Categories: TM Legislation

Закон КР “О товарных знаках, знаках обслуживания и наименованиях мест происхождения товаров”

ЗАКОН КЫРГЫЗСКОЙ РЕСПУБЛИКИ

 утратил силу 31 марта 2023 г.

от 14 января 1998 года № 7

 

О товарных знаках, знаках обслуживания и наименованиях мест происхождения товаров

 

 

 

Настоящим Законом регулируются правовые, экономические и организационные отношения, возникающие в связи с регистрацией, правовой охраной и использованием товарных знаков, знаков обслуживания и наименований мест происхождения товаров в Кыргызской Республике.

 

 

Раздел I. Общие положения

Статья 1. Государственный орган в области интеллектуальной собственности

Уполномоченный государственный орган в области интеллектуальной собственности (далее – Кыргызпатент) в соответствии с настоящим Законом осуществляет единую государственную политику в области охраны товарных знаков, знаков обслуживания и наименований мест происхождения товаров в Кыргызской Республике, принимает к рассмотрению заявки на регистрацию товарных знаков и знаков обслуживания, а также заявки на регистрацию и предоставление права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара, проводит по ним экспертизу, осуществляет их государственную регистрацию, выдает свидетельства, публикует официальные сведения, в пределах своей компетенции разрабатывает проекты актов, выполняет другие функции, относящиеся к товарным знакам, знакам обслуживания и наименованиям мест происхождения товаров в соответствии с положением о нем, утверждаемым Правительством Кыргызской Республики.

В целях совершенствования деятельности Кыргызпатента по предоставлению правовой охраны товарных знаков, знаков обслуживания и наименований мест происхождения товаров при Кыргызпатенте создается Апелляционный совет, который является обязательным первичным органом по рассмотрению споров, возникающих по указанным объектам, в соответствии с его компетенцией. Порядок рассмотрения возражений Апелляционным советом определяется Правительством Кыргызской Республики.

Финансирование деятельности Кыргызпатента осуществляется за счет средств республиканского бюджета.

 

Раздел II. Товарный знак и знак обслуживания

Статья 2. Товарный знак и знак обслуживания

Товарный знак и знак обслуживания (далее – товарный знак) – это обозначения, способные отличать соответственно товары и услуги одних юридических или физических лиц от однородных товаров или услуг (далее – товары) других юридических или физических лиц.

На зарегистрированный товарный знак выдается свидетельство. Свидетельство удостоверяет приоритет товарного знака, исключительное право владельца на товарный знак в отношении товаров, указанных в свидетельстве.

В качестве товарных знаков могут быть зарегистрированы словесные, изобразительные, объемные и другие обозначения или их комбинации.

Товарный знак может быть зарегистрирован в любом цвете или цветовом сочетании.

Характер товаров, для которых применяется товарный знак, не может являться препятствием для регистрации товарного знака.

Настоящий Закон не применяется к визуально не различимым обозначениям, а также к звуковым и обонятельным знакам.

 

 

Статья 3. Правовая охрана товарного знака. Исключительное право на товарный знак

Правовая охрана товарного знака в Кыргызской Республике предоставляется на основании его государственной регистрации в порядке, установленном настоящим Законом, или в силу международных договоров, участницей которых является Кыргызская Республика.

Товарный знак может быть зарегистрирован на имя юридического лица, а также физического лица, осуществляющего предпринимательскую деятельность.

Владелец товарного знака имеет исключительное право пользоваться и распоряжаться товарным знаком, а также запрещать его использование другими лицами. Исключительное право на товарный знак может быть предметом залога. Никто не может использовать в Кыргызской Республике товарный знак без разрешения его владельца.

Нарушением права владельца товарного знака признается несанкционированное изготовление, применение, ввоз, предложение к продаже, продажа и иное введение в хозяйственный оборот или хранение с этой целью товарного знака или товара, обозначенного этим знаком, или обозначения, сходного с ним до степени смешения, в отношении однородных товаров.

Исключительное право на товарный знак возникает с даты внесения товарного знака в Государственный реестр товарных знаков Кыргызской Республики (далее – Реестр).

Несанкционированное использование обозначения, тождественного или сходного до степени смешения с товарным знаком этого владельца, в качестве адреса в сети Интернет также признается нарушением права владельца товарного знака. Порядок использования товарного знака или обозначения, сходного с ним до степени смешения, в качестве адреса в сети Интернет устанавливается Правительством Кыргызской Республики.

 

Статья 4. Абсолютные основания для отказа в регистрации

Не допускается регистрация в качестве товарных знаков обозначений, не обладающих различительной способностью или состоящих только из элементов:

1) вошедших во всеобщее употребление как обозначение товаров определенного вида;

2) являющихся общепринятыми терминами и символами в отношении к товарам, для которых предлагается использовать такие термины или символы в качестве знаков;

 

3) указывающих на вид, качество, количество, свойство, назначение, ценность товаров, а также на время и место их происхождения, производства или сбыта.

 

Элементы, указанные в пунктах 1-3 части 1 настоящей статьи, могут быть включены как неохраняемые элементы в товарный знак, если они не занимают в нем доминирующего положения.

 

Не допускается регистрация в качестве товарных знаков обозначений, состоящих только из элементов, представляющих собой государственные гербы, флаги и другие государственные эмблемы, официальные названия государств, сокращенные или полные наименования международных организаций, их гербы, флаги и другие эмблемы, официальные контрольные, гарантийные и пробирные клейма, печати, награды и другие знаки отличия, или сходных с ними до степени смешения обозначений. Такие элементы могут быть включены как неохраняемые элементы в товарный знак, если на это имеется согласие соответствующего компетентного органа или их владельца.

 

Не допускается регистрация в качестве товарных знаков или их элементов обозначений:

 

1) являющихся ложными или способными ввести в заблуждение потребителя относительно товара или его изготовителя;

 

2) представляющих собой или содержащих указание на место происхождения вин или крепких спиртных напитков, охраняемых вступившими в установленном законом порядке в силу международными договорами, участницей которых является Кыргызская Республика, если такие обозначения предназначены для вин или крепких спиртных напитков, не происходящих из указанных мест, а также формально указывающих на истинное место производства товара, но дающих ошибочное представление о том, что товар происходит с другой территории;

 

3) противоречащих общественным интересам, принципам гуманности и морали.

 

 

Статья 5. Иные основания для отказа в регистрации

 

 

 

Не могут быть зарегистрированы в качестве товарных знаков обозначения, тождественные или сходные до степени их смешения:

 

1) с товарными знаками, ранее зарегистрированными или заявленными на регистрацию в Кыргызской Республике на имя другого лица в отношении однородных товаров и обладающими более ранним приоритетом;

 

2) с зарегистрированными или представленными на регистрацию в Кыргызской Республике фирменными наименованиями – в отношении тождественных или сходных видов деятельности либо товаров или услуг;

 

3) с товарными знаками других лиц, охраняемыми вступившими в установленном законом порядке в силу международными договорами, участницей которых является Кыргызская Республика, в отношении однородных товаров и обладающими более ранним приоритетом.

 

Регистрация обозначения, сходного до степени смешения с товарным знаком или фирменным наименованием, указанными в пунктах 1, 2 и 3 части первой настоящей статьи, в отношении однородных товаров допускается при условии представления согласия владельца такого товарного знака на регистрацию этого обозначения. Порядок представления такого согласия определяется Правительством Кыргызской Республики.

 

Не могут быть зарегистрированы в качестве товарных знаков в отношении любых товаров обозначения, тождественные или сходные до степени их смешения:

 

1) с признанными в установленном порядке в Кыргызской Республике общеизвестными товарными знаками. Критерии общеизвестности товарного знака в Кыргызской Республике и порядок признания общеизвестности устанавливаются Правительством Кыргызской Республики;

 

2) с наименованиями мест происхождения товаров, охраняемыми в соответствии с настоящим Законом, кроме случаев, когда они включены как неохраняемые элементы в товарный знак, регистрируемый на имя лица, имеющего право пользования таким наименованием.

 

Не регистрируются в качестве товарных знаков обозначения, воспроизводящие:

 

1) известные на территории Кыргызской Республики в отношении однородных товаров фирменные наименования (или их часть), принадлежащие другим лицам, получившим право на эти наименования до даты приоритета заявки на товарный знак в отношении однородных товаров;

 

2) наименования известных в Кыргызской Республике произведений науки, литературы и искусства, персонажи из них или цитаты, произведения искусства или их фрагменты без согласия обладателя авторского права или его правопреемника;

 

3) фамилии, имена, псевдонимы и производные от них, портреты и факсимиле известных лиц без согласия таких лиц, их наследников, а в случае, если эти обозначения являются достоянием истории и культуры Кыргызской Республики, – без разрешения Правительства Кыргызской Республики;

 

4) промышленные образцы, права на которые в Кыргызской Республике принадлежат другим лицам, если промышленный образец обладает более ранним приоритетом по сравнению с заявленным на регистрацию товарным знаком.

 

 

 

 

 

Раздел III. Регистрация товарного знака

 

 

 

Статья 6. Заявка на регистрацию товарного знака

 

 

 

Заявка на регистрацию товарного знака (далее – заявка) подается юридическим или физическим лицом, осуществляющим предпринимательскую деятельность (далее – заявитель), в Кыргызпатент.

 

Заявка может быть подана через патентного поверенного, зарегистрированного в Кыргызпатенте, или другого представителя.

 

Иностранные юридические лица или постоянно проживающие за пределами Кыргызской Республики физические лица либо их патентные поверенные ведут дела, связанные с регистрацией товарного знака, через патентных поверенных, зарегистрированных в Кыргызпатенте.

 

Полномочия патентного поверенного или другого представителя удостоверяются доверенностью, выданной ему лицом, на имя которого испрашивается свидетельство на товарный знак.

 

Порядок аттестации и регистрации патентных поверенных определяется законодательством Кыргызской Республики.

 

Заявка должна относиться к одному знаку.

 

Заявка должна содержать:

 

1) заявление о регистрации обозначения в качестве товарного знака с указанием заявителя, а также его местонахождения или местожительства;

 

2) заявляемое обозначение;

 

3) перечень товаров, для которых испрашивается регистрация товарного знака, сгруппированных по классам Международной классификации товаров и услуг для регистрации знаков.

 

Заявка представляется на государственном или официальном языке.

 

К заявке должны быть приложены:

 

1) документ, подтверждающий уплату пошлины в установленном размере;

 

2) описание заявляемого обозначения;

 

3) устав коллективного знака, если заявка подается на коллективный знак.

 

Датой подачи заявки считается дата поступления в Кыргызпатент документов, предусмотренных частью седьмой настоящей статьи, а если указанные документы представлены не одновременно, то по дате поступления последнего из представленных документов.

 

Документы, прилагаемые к заявке, представляются на государственном или официальном языке.

 

Требования к вышеназванным документам заявки и порядок их представления устанавливаются Правительством Кыргызской Республики.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 7. Приоритет товарного знака

 

 

 

Приоритет товарного знака устанавливается по дате подачи в Кыргызпатент заявки, удовлетворяющей требованиям части седьмой статьи 6 настоящего Закона.

 

Приоритет товарного знака может устанавливаться по дате подачи первой заявки в государстве-участнике Парижской конвенции по охране промышленной собственности (конвенционный приоритет), если подача заявки в Кыргызпатент осуществлена в течение шести месяцев с указанной даты. В отсчет этого срока день подачи первой заявки не включается.

 

Приоритет товарного знака, помещенного на экспонатах официальных или официально признанных международных выставок, организованных на территории одного из государств-участников Парижской конвенции по охране промышленной собственности, может устанавливаться по дате начала открытого показа экспоната на выставке (выставочный приоритет), если подача заявки на товарный знак в Кыргызпатент осуществлена в течение шести месяцев с указанной даты.

 

Заявитель, желающий воспользоваться правом конвенционного или выставочного приоритета, обязан указать это при подаче заявки на товарный знак или в течение двух месяцев с даты подачи заявки в Кыргызпатент и приложить необходимые документы, подтверждающие правомерность такого требования либо представить эти документы не позднее трех месяцев с даты подачи заявки в Кыргызпатент.

 

Приоритет товарного знака может устанавливаться по дате международной регистрации товарного знака в соответствии с вступившими в установленном законом порядке в силу международными договорами, участницей которых является Кыргызская Республика.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 8. Экспертиза заявки на товарный знак

 

 

 

Экспертиза заявки осуществляется Кыргызпатентом и включает предварительную экспертизу и экспертизу заявленного обозначения.

 

В период проведения экспертизы до принятия по ней решения заявитель вправе дополнять, уточнять или исправлять материалы заявки при условии уплаты соответствующей пошлины.

 

Если дополнительные материалы содержат указания на товары, не входившие в заявку на дату ее подачи, или существенно изменяют заявленное обозначение, то они не принимаются к рассмотрению.

 

Заявка может быть отозвана по просьбе заявителя на любом этапе ее рассмотрения, но не позднее даты регистрации товарного знака в Реестре.

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 9. Предварительная экспертиза

 

 

 

В течение одного месяца с даты подачи заявки проводится предварительная экспертиза, в ходе которой проверяется содержание заявки на соответствие требованиям, установленным частью третьей статьи 2 и статьей 6 настоящего Закона.

 

В ходе предварительной экспертизы заявителю может быть направлен запрос о необходимости дополнительных материалов, ответ на который должен быть представлен в течение двух месяцев с даты получения запроса. По ходатайству заявителя, при наличии уважительных причин и условии уплаты соответствующей пошлины, Кыргызпатент может разрешить продление данного срока до шести месяцев.

 

Если заявитель нарушил указанный срок или оставил запрос без ответа, заявка считается отозванной.

 

По результатам предварительной экспертизы заявка принимается к рассмотрению либо выносится решение об отказе в принятии ее к рассмотрению.

 

О результатах предварительной экспертизы Кыргызпатент уведомляет заявителя.

 

Одновременно с уведомлением о положительном результате предварительной экспертизы заявки заявителю сообщается дата подачи заявки, установленная в соответствии с частью 10 статьи 6 настоящего Закона.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 10. Экспертиза заявленного обозначения

 

 

 

Экспертиза заявленного обозначения проводится по завершении предварительной экспертизы в течение двенадцати месяцев с даты подачи заявки.

 

В ходе экспертизы проверяется соответствие заявленного обозначения требованиям, установленным частью первой статьи 2, статьями 4 и 5 настоящего Закона, и устанавливается приоритет товарного знака в соответствии со статьей 7 настоящего Закона.

 

По результатам экспертизы выносится решение о регистрации товарного знака либо об отказе в его регистрации.

 

На любом этапе проведения экспертизы Кыргызпатент вправе запросить у заявителя дополнительные материалы, без которых проведение экспертизы невозможно.

 

Дополнительные материалы по запросу экспертизы должны быть представлены в течение двух месяцев с даты получения запроса. По ходатайству заявителя, при наличии уважительных причин и условии уплаты соответствующей пошлины до истечения двухмесячного срока, срок ответа на запрос может быть продлен, но не более чем на двенадцать месяцев.

 

Если заявитель нарушил указанный срок или оставил запрос экспертизы без ответа, заявка считается отозванной.

 

В ходе экспертизы может быть вынесено предварительное решение об отказе в регистрации товарного знака.

 

Ответ на предварительное решение может быть представлен заявителем в течение двух месяцев с даты получения предварительного решения. По просьбе заявителя указанный срок может быть продлен при условии, что просьба поступила до истечения этого срока. Срок ответа на предварительное решение продлевается не более чем на двенадцать месяцев.

 

Если заявитель нарушил указанный срок или оставил предварительное решение без ответа, принимается решение об отказе в регистрации товарного знака.

 

Заявитель вправе, при уплате соответствующей пошлины, ходатайствовать о проведении досрочной экспертизы заявленного обозначения. При этом экспертиза заявленного обозначения проводится не ранее шести месяцев с даты подачи заявки, при условии подачи такого ходатайства в течение шести месяцев с даты подачи заявки.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 11. Обжалование решения по заявке и восстановление пропущенных сроков

 

 

 

При несогласии заявителя с решением предварительной экспертизы или с решением экспертизы заявленного обозначения он вправе в течение трех месяцев с даты получения решения подать возражение в Апелляционный совет Кыргызпатента (далее – Апелляционный совет). Возражение должно быть рассмотрено Апелляционным советом в течение четырех месяцев с даты его поступления.

 

Решение Апелляционного совета может быть обжаловано в суд заявителем в течение шести месяцев с даты его получения.

 

Заявитель вправе ознакомиться с материалами, указанными в решении экспертизы.

 

В течение месяца после получения заявителем решения по заявке заявитель может запросить копии этих материалов.

 

Сроки, предусмотренные частью второй статьи 9, частью пятой статьи 10 настоящего Закона и частями первой и четвертой настоящей статьи, пропущенные заявителем, могут быть восстановлены Кыргызпатентом по ходатайству заявителя, поданному не позднее двух месяцев по их истечении, при условии подтверждения уважительных причин и уплаты пошлины.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 12. Регистрация товарного знака

 

 

 

На основании решения о регистрации товарного знака Кыргызпатент в течение месяца с даты получения документа об уплате установленной пошлины производит регистрацию товарного знака в Реестре.

 

Пошлина уплачивается в течение двух месяцев с даты получения заявителем решения экспертизы о регистрации товарного знака или в течение трех месяцев со дня истечения указанного двухмесячного срока при условии уплаты дополнительной пошлины.

 

Порядок занесения и перечень сведений, вносимых в Реестр, определяются Правительством Кыргызской Республики.

 

При непредставлении в установленном порядке документа, подтверждающего уплату пошлины за регистрацию товарного знака, публикацию и выдачу свидетельства на него, регистрация товарного знака не производится, соответствующая заявка признается отозванной.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 13. Публикация сведений о регистрации

 

 

 

Сведения, относящиеся к регистрации товарного знака и внесенные в Реестр, публикуются Кыргызпатентом в официальном бюллетене в течение одного месяца с даты регистрации товарного знака в Реестре или с даты внесения в Реестр изменений регистрации товарного знака.

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 14. Выдача свидетельства на товарный знак

 

 

 

Выдача свидетельства на товарный знак производится Кыргызпатентом по истечении трех месяцев с даты публикации товарного знака в официальном бюллетене.

 

Форма свидетельства и состав указываемых в нем сведений устанавливаются Кыргызпатентом.

 

 

 

 

Статья 15. Срок действия регистрации товарного знака

 

 

 

Регистрация товарного знака действует до истечения десяти лет, считая с даты подачи заявки в Кыргызпатент.

 

Срок действия регистрации товарного знака может быть продлен по заявлению владельца, поданному в течение последнего года его действия, каждый раз на десять лет при условии уплаты пошлины. По ходатайству владельца для продления срока действия регистрации товарного знака ему может быть предоставлен шестимесячный срок после истечения срока действия регистрации при условии уплаты дополнительной пошлины.

 

Запись о продлении срока действия регистрации товарного знака вносится Кыргызпатентом в Реестр и свидетельство на товарный знак.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 16. Внесение изменений в регистрацию

 

 

 

Владелец товарного знака уведомляет Кыргызпатент об изменении наименования владельца товарного знака, фамилии, имени или отчества, сокращения перечня товаров, в отношении которых зарегистрирован товарный знак, изменении отдельных элементов товарного знака, не меняющем его существа, других изменений, относящихся к регистрации товарного знака.

 

При необходимости дополнения перечня товаров, в отношении которого зарегистрирован товарный знак, требуется оформление новой заявки.

 

Изменения вносятся в Реестр и свидетельство на товарный знак при условии уплаты пошлины.

 

Исправления очевидных и технических ошибок, допущенных не по вине заявителя, вносятся Кыргызпатентом в Реестр и свидетельство на товарный знак без уплаты пошлины.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 17. Регистрация товарного знака в зарубежных странах

 

 

 

Юридические и физические лица Кыргызской Республики вправе зарегистрировать товарный знак в зарубежных странах или произвести его международную регистрацию.

 

Заявка на международную регистрацию товарного знака подается через Кыргызпатент.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 17-1. Общеизвестный товарный знак

 

 

 

По заявлению юридического или физического лица общеизвестным товарным знаком в Кыргызской Республике может быть признан товарный знак, охраняемый на территории Кыргызской Республики на основании его государственной регистрации или в силу международных договоров Кыргызской Республики, либо обозначение, используемое в качестве товарного знака, но не имеющее правовой охраны на территории Кыргызской Республики, если такой товарный знак или это обозначение в результате интенсивного использования стали на указанную в заявлении дату широко известны в Кыргызской Республике среди соответствующих потребителей в отношении товаров заявителя.

 

Товарный знак и обозначение не могут быть признаны общеизвестными товарными знаками, если они стали широко известны после даты приоритета тождественного или сходного с ними до степени смешения товарного знака другого лица, который предназначен для использования в отношении однородных товаров.

 

Общеизвестному товарному знаку предоставляется правовая охрана, предусмотренная настоящим Законом для товарного знака.

 

Предоставление правовой охраны общеизвестному товарному знаку означает признание исключительного права на общеизвестный товарный знак.

 

Правовая охрана общеизвестного товарного знака действует бессрочно.

 

Правовая охрана общеизвестного товарного знака распространяется также на товары, неоднородные с теми, в отношении которых он признан общеизвестным, если использование другим лицом этого товарного знака в отношении указанных товаров будет ассоциироваться у потребителей с обладателем исключительного права на общеизвестный товарный знак и может ущемить законные интересы такого обладателя.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 17-2. Предоставление правовой охраны общеизвестному товарному знаку

 

 

 

Правовая охрана общеизвестному товарному знаку предоставляется на основании решения Апелляционного совета, принятого по заявлению, поданному в соответствии с частью 1 статьи 17-1 настоящего Закона.

 

Товарный знак, признанный общеизвестным, вносится Кыргызпатентом в Государственный реестр общеизвестных товарных знаков Кыргызской Республики.

 

Выдача свидетельства на общеизвестный товарный знак осуществляется Кыргызпатентом в течение месяца с даты внесения товарного знака в Государственный реестр общеизвестных товарных знаков Кыргызской Республики. Форма свидетельства и состав указываемых в нем сведений устанавливаются Кыргызпатентом.

 

Сведения, относящиеся к общеизвестному товарному знаку, публикуются Кыргызпатентом в официальном бюллетене в течение месяца с даты внесения товарного знака в Государственный реестр общеизвестных товарных знаков Кыргызской Республики.

 

 

 

 

Раздел IV. Коллективный знак

 

 

 

Статья 18. Права на коллективный знак

 

 

 

Юридические лица, представляющие союзы, хозяйственные ассоциации, концерны или иные объединения юридических лиц (далее – объединения), могут подавать заявки на коллективный знак, предназначенный для обозначения выпускаемых и реализуемых ими товаров, обладающих едиными качественными или иными общими характеристиками.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 19. Регистрация коллективного знака

 

 

 

Регистрация коллективного знака производится в соответствии со статьей 12 настоящего Закона. В дополнение к этому в Реестр и свидетельство вносятся сведения о юридических лицах, имеющих право пользования коллективным знаком, ссылка на устав и его дату. Эти сведения публикуются в официальном бюллетене Кыргызпатента. Владелец коллективного знака уведомляет Кыргызпатент об изменениях в уставе коллективного знака.

 

К заявке на регистрацию коллективного знака прилагается устав коллективного знака, который содержит сведения о наименовании, перечень юридических лиц, имеющих право пользования этим знаком, цель его регистрации, перечень и единые качественные или иные общие характеристики товаров, которые будут обозначаться коллективным знаком, условия его использования, порядок контроля за его использованием, ответственность за нарушение устава коллективного знака.

 

В случае использования коллективного знака на товарах, не обладающих едиными качественными или иными общими характеристиками, действие регистрации может быть прекращено досрочно полностью или частично на основании решения суда, принятого по заявлению любого лица.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Раздел V. Использование товарного знака

 

 

 

Статья 20. Использование товарного знака и последствия его неиспользования

 

 

 

Использованием товарного знака считается применение его на товарах, для которых товарный знак зарегистрирован, и (или) их упаковке владельцем товарного знака или лицом, которому такое право предоставлено на основе лицензионного договора в соответствии со статьей 23 настоящего Закона.

 

Использованием может быть признано также применение товарного знака в рекламе, печатных изданиях, на официальных бланках, на вывесках, при демонстрации экспонатов на выставках и ярмарках, проводимых в Кыргызской Республике, при наличии уважительных причин неприменения товарного знака на товарах и (или) их упаковке.

 

Использованием может быть признано также применение товарного знака в качестве адреса в сети Интернет.

 

Юридические и физические лица, осуществляющие посредническую деятельность, могут на основе договора использовать свой товарный знак наряду с товарным знаком изготовителя товаров, а также вместо товарного знака последнего.

 

Действие регистрации товарного знака может быть прекращено досрочно в отношении всех или части товаров в связи с неиспользованием товарного знака непрерывно в течение любых трех лет подряд после его регистрации на основании решения суда, принятого по заявлению любого лица, поданного в период такого непрерывного неиспользования.

 

При решении вопроса о досрочном прекращении действия регистрации товарного знака в связи с его неиспользованием могут быть приняты во внимание представленные владельцем товарного знака доказательства того, что товарный знак не использовался по независящим от него обстоятельствам, в том числе ограничения, устанавливаемые государством к товарам, для которых зарегистрирован товарный знак.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 21. Предупредительная маркировка

 

 

 

Владелец товарного знака может проставлять рядом с товарным знаком предупредительную маркировку в виде латинской буквы R или R в окружности или словесного обозначения “зарегистрированный товарный знак”, указывающую на то, что применяемое обозначение является товарным знаком, зарегистрированным в Кыргызской Республике.

 

 

 

 

Раздел VI.  Передача товарного знака

 

 

 

Статья 22. Уступка товарного знака

 

 

 

Товарный знак может быть уступлен его владельцем по договору юридическому или физическому лицу, как вместе с соответствующим производством или его частью, так и без них, в отношении всех или части товаров, для которых он зарегистрирован.

 

Уступка товарного знака по договору не допускается, если она может явиться причиной введения в заблуждение потребителя относительно товара, его качества и его изготовителя.

 

Коллективные товарные знаки не могут быть уступлены другим лицам.

 

 

 

 

Статья 23. Предоставление лицензии на использование товарного знака

 

 

 

Право на использование товарного знака может быть предоставлено владельцем товарного знака (лицензиаром) другому лицу (лицензиату) по лицензионному договору в отношении одного товара, нескольких или всех товаров, для которых знак зарегистрирован.

 

Лицензионный договор должен содержать условие о том, что качество товаров лицензиата будет не ниже качества товаров лицензиара и что лицензиар будет осуществлять контроль за выполнением этого условия.

 

Коллективные товарные знаки не могут быть предметом лицензионного договора.

 

 

 

 

Статья 23-1. Договор залога товарного знака

 

 

 

В случае заключения договора о залоге исключительного права на товарный знак владелец товарного знака вправе в течение срока действия этого договора использовать свой товарный знак и распоряжаться исключительным правом на него без согласия залогодержателя, если договором не предусмотрено иное.

 

Исключительные права на коллективные товарные знаки не могут быть предметом залога.

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 24. Регистрация договора об уступке товарного знака, лицензионный договор и договор залога товарного знака

 

 

 

Договор об уступке товарного знака, лицензионный договор и договор залога товарного знака регистрируются в Кыргызпатенте и вступают в силу с даты их регистрации. Без этой регистрации они считаются недействительными.

 

Кыргызпатент не регистрирует договор, если он не соответствует требованиям статей 22, 23 и 23-1 настоящего Закона.

 

За регистрацию договора уплачивается соответствующая пошлина.

 

 

 

 

 

Раздел VII. Прекращение правовой охраны

 

 

 

Статья 25. Признание регистрации товарного знака недействительной

 

 

 

Регистрация товарного знака может быть признана недействительной полностью или частично в течение всего срока ее действия, если она была произведена в нарушение требований, установленных статьей 4 настоящего Закона.

 

Регистрация товарного знака может быть признана недействительной полностью или частично в течение пяти лет с даты публикации сведений о регистрации товарного знака в официальном бюллетене по основаниям, установленным статьей 5 настоящего Закона. Настоящая норма не распространяется на товарные знаки, зарегистрированные или используемые недобросовестно.

 

Регистрация товарного знака может быть признана недействительной полностью в течение всего срока ее действия, если она была произведена в нарушение требований, установленных частью второй статьи 3 настоящего Закона.

 

Любое лицо может подать в сроки, предусмотренные частями первой, второй и третьей настоящей статьи, возражение против регистрации товарного знака в Апелляционный совет. Возражение против регистрации товарного знака должно быть рассмотрено в течение четырех месяцев с даты его поступления.

 

Решение Апелляционного совета может быть обжаловано в суд заявителем в течение шести месяцев с даты его получения.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 26. Прекращение действия регистрации товарного знака

 

 

 

Действие регистрации товарного знака прекращается:

 

1) в связи с истечением срока ее действия, предусмотренного статьей 15 настоящего Закона;

 

2) на основании решения суда о досрочном прекращении ее действия по причине использования коллективного знака на товарах, не обладающих едиными качественными или иными общими характеристиками, в соответствии с частью третьей статьи 19 настоящего Закона;

 

3) на основании решения суда о досрочном прекращении ее действия по причине неиспользования товарного знака в соответствии с частью пятой статьи 20 настоящего Закона;

 

4) на основании решения Кыргызпатента о досрочном прекращении ее действия при ликвидации юридического лица – владельца товарного знака без образования правопреемника или прекращении предпринимательской деятельности физического лица – владельца товарного знака;

 

5) на основании решения суда, вступившего в законную силу, в случае превращения товарного знака в обозначение, вошедшее во всеобщее употребление как обозначение товаров определенного вида;

 

6) в случае отказа от нее владельца товарного знака на основании его заявления, поданного в Кыргызпатент.

 

Товарный знак, прекративший свое действие в соответствии с пунктами 1, 4 и 6 настоящей статьи, не может быть зарегистрирован на имя нового лица в течение одного года с даты прекращения действия.

 

Действие регистрации общеизвестного товарного знака прекращается по основаниям, предусмотренным пунктами 3-6 части 1 настоящей статьи, а также по решению Апелляционного совета в случае утраты общеизвестным товарным знаком признаков, установленных частью 1 статьи 17-1 настоящего Закона.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Раздел VIII. Наименование места происхождения товара

 

 

 

Статья 27. Наименование места происхождения товара

 

 

 

Наименование места происхождения товара – это название страны, населенного пункта, местности или другого географического объекта (далее – географический объект), используемое для обозначения товара, особые свойства которого исключительно или главным образом определяются характерными для данного географического объекта природными условиями или людскими факторами либо природными условиями и людскими факторами одновременно.

 

Наименованием места происхождения товара может быть историческое название географического объекта.

 

Не признается наименованием места происхождения товара обозначение, хотя и представляющее собой или содержащее название географического объекта, но вошедшее в Кыргызской Республике во всеобщее употребление как обозначение товара определенного вида, не связанное с местом его изготовления.

 

 

 

 

Статья 28. Возникновение правовой охраны

 

 

 

Правовая охрана наименования места происхождения товара в Кыргызской Республике возникает на основании его регистрации в порядке, установленном настоящим Законом, или вступившими в установленном законом порядке в силу международными договорами, участницей которых является Кыргызская Республика.

 

Наименование места происхождения товара охраняется законом.

 

Наименование места происхождения товара может быть зарегистрировано одним или несколькими юридическими или физическими лицами. Лицо, зарегистрировавшее наименование места происхождения товара, получает право пользования им, если производимый данным лицом товар отвечает требованиям, установленным частью первой статьи 27 настоящего Закона.

 

Право пользования этим же наименованием места происхождения товара, зарегистрированным в установленном порядке, может быть предоставлено любому юридическому или физическому лицу, находящемуся в том же географическом объекте и производящему товар с теми же свойствами.

 

Регистрация наименования места происхождения товара действует бессрочно.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Раздел IX. Регистрация и предоставление права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара

 

 

 

Статья 29. Заявка на регистрацию и предоставление права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара

 

 

 

Заявка на регистрацию и предоставление права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара или заявка на предоставление права пользования уже зарегистрированным наименованием места происхождения товара (далее – заявка) подается в Кыргызпатент заявителем (заявителями) самостоятельно или через патентного поверенного, зарегистрированного в Кыргызпатенте.

 

Заявка должна относиться к одному наименованию места происхождения товара.

 

Заявка должна содержать:

 

заявление о регистрации и предоставлении права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара или о предоставлении права пользования уже зарегистрированным наименованием места происхождения товара с указанием заявителя (заявителей), а также его (их) местонахождения или местожительства;

 

заявляемое обозначение;

 

указание товара, для обозначения которого испрашиваются регистрация и предоставление права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара или предоставление права пользования уже зарегистрированным наименованием места происхождения товара, с указанием места его производства (границ географического объекта);

 

описание особых свойств товара.

 

Заявка представляется на государственном или официальном языке.

 

К заявке должны быть приложены:

 

заключение компетентного органа (компетентных органов) о том, что заявитель находится в указанном географическом объекте и производит товар, особые свойства которого определяются характерными для данного географического объекта природными условиями или людскими факторами либо природными условиями и людскими факторами одновременно;

 

для иностранного заявителя – документ, подтверждающий его право на заявленное наименование места происхождения товара в стране происхождения товара;

 

документ, подтверждающий уплату пошлины в установленном размере.

 

Датой подачи заявки считается дата поступления в Кыргызпатент документов, предусмотренных частью третьей настоящей статьи, а если указанные документы представлены не одновременно, то дата поступления последнего из представленных документов.

 

Документы, прилагаемые к заявке, представляются на государственном или официальном языке. Если эти документы представлены на другом языке к заявке прилагается их перевод на государственный или официальный язык.

 

Требования к вышеназванным документам заявки и порядок их представления устанавливаются Кыргызпатентом.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 30. Экспертиза заявки

 

 

 

Экспертиза заявки осуществляется Кыргызпатентом и включает предварительную экспертизу и экспертизу заявленного обозначения.

 

В течение одного месяца с даты подачи заявки заявитель вправе дополнять, уточнять и вносить изменения, не меняющие сущность заявки, без дополнительной оплаты. Если дополнительные материалы изменяют заявку по существу, эти материалы не принимаются к рассмотрению и могут быть оформлены заявителем в качестве самостоятельной заявки.

 

В период проведения экспертизы Кыргызпатент вправе запросить у заявителя дополнительные материалы, без которых проведение экспертизы невозможно.

 

Запрошенные материалы должны быть представлены в течение двух месяцев с даты получения запроса. По ходатайству заявителя, при наличии уважительных причин и условии уплаты соответствующей пошлины, Кыргызпатент может разрешить продление данного срока до шести месяцев. Если заявитель нарушил указанный срок или оставил запрос экспертизы без ответа, заявка считается отозванной.

 

По истечении одного месяца с даты подачи заявки в Кыргызпатент проводится предварительная экспертиза заявки. В ходе предварительной экспертизы проверяется состав необходимых документов, предусмотренных в статье 29 настоящего Закона, правильность ее оформления, уплата пошлины.

 

Заявитель может письменно ходатайствовать о начале предварительной экспертизы до истечения одного месяца, с даты подачи ходатайства заявитель теряет право, предусмотренное частью второй настоящей статьи.

 

По результатам предварительной экспертизы заявка принимается к рассмотрению либо выносится решение об отказе в принятии ее к рассмотрению.

 

О результатах предварительной экспертизы Кыргызпатент уведомляет заявителя.

 

Одновременно с уведомлением о положительном результате предварительной экспертизы заявки заявителю сообщается дата подачи заявки, установленная в соответствии с частью 6 статьи 29 настоящего Закона.

 

По принятой к рассмотрению заявке проводится экспертиза заявленного обозначения на его соответствие требованиям, установленным статьей 27 настоящего Закона.

 

По завершении экспертизы Кыргызпатент принимает решение о регистрации наименования места происхождения товара и предоставлении права пользования им или об отказе в регистрации наименования места происхождения товара и предоставлении права пользования им либо решение о предоставлении права пользования уже зарегистрированным наименованием места происхождения товара или об отказе в предоставлении права пользования им.

 

Заявитель может отозвать заявку на любом этапе ее рассмотрения.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 31. Обжалование решения по заявке и восстановление пропущенных сроков

 

 

 

При несогласии заявителя с решением предварительной экспертизы или с решением экспертизы заявленного обозначения он вправе в течение трех месяцев с даты получения решения подать возражение в Апелляционный совет. Возражение должно быть рассмотрено Апелляционным советом в течение четырех месяцев с даты его поступления.

 

Решение Апелляционного совета может быть обжаловано в суд заявителем в течение шести месяцев с даты его получения.

 

Сроки, предусмотренные частью четвертой статьи 30 настоящего Закона и частью первой настоящей статьи, пропущенные заявителем, могут быть восстановлены Кыргызпатентом по ходатайству заявителя, поданному не позднее двух месяцев по их истечении, при условии подтверждения уважительных причин и уплаты пошлины.

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 32. Регистрация наименования места происхождения товара и выдача свидетельства на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара. Публикация сведений о регистрации и предоставлении права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара

 

 

 

На основании решения экспертизы о регистрации наименования места происхождения товара и предоставлении права пользования им при условии уплаты установленной пошлины Кыргызпатент производит регистрацию наименования места происхождения товара в Государственном реестре наименований мест происхождения товаров Кыргызской Республики (далее – Реестр).

 

Порядок занесения и перечень сведений, вносимых в Реестр, определяются Правительством Кыргызской Республики.

 

Пошлина уплачивается в течение двух месяцев с даты получения заявителем решения экспертизы о регистрации наименования места происхождения товара или в течение трех месяцев со дня истечения указанного двухмесячного срока при условии уплаты дополнительной пошлины.

 

Сведения, относящиеся к регистрации и предоставлению права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара и внесенные в Реестр, публикуются Кыргызпатентом в официальном бюллетене в течение одного месяца с даты их внесения в Реестр.

 

Выдача свидетельства производится Кыргызпатентом в течение одного месяца после опубликования в официальном бюллетене.

 

Форма свидетельства и состав указываемых в нем сведений устанавливаются Кыргызпатентом.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 33. Срок действия свидетельства на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара

 

 

 

Свидетельство действует до истечения десяти лет, считая с даты подачи заявки в Кыргызпатент.

 

Срок действия свидетельства может быть продлен по заявлению владельца свидетельства и при условии представления заключения компетентного органа (компетентных органов), подтверждающего, что владелец свидетельства находится в данном географическом объекте и производит товар с указанными в свидетельстве свойствами.

 

Заявление подается в течение последнего года действия свидетельства.

 

Срок действия свидетельства продлевается каждый раз на десять лет.

 

По ходатайству владельца свидетельства для продления срока действия свидетельства ему может быть представлен шестимесячный срок после истечения срока действия свидетельства при условии уплаты дополнительной пошлины.

 

Запись о продлении срока действия свидетельства вносится Кыргызпатентом в Реестр и свидетельство.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 34. Внесение изменений в Реестр и свидетельство

 

 

 

Владелец свидетельства уведомляет Кыргызпатент об изменении своего наименования, фамилии, имени или отчества, а также о других изменениях, относящихся к регистрации и предоставлению права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара.

 

Запись об изменении вносится в Реестр и свидетельство при условии уплаты пошлины.

 

Исправления очевидных и технических ошибок, допущенных не по вине заявителя, вносятся Кыргызпатентом в Реестр и свидетельство на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара без уплаты пошлины.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 35. Регистрация наименования места происхождения товара в зарубежных странах

 

 

 

Юридические и физические лица Кыргызской Республики вправе зарегистрировать наименование места происхождения товара в зарубежных странах.

 

Подача заявки на регистрацию наименования места происхождения товара в зарубежных странах производится после его регистрации и получения права пользования этим наименованием места происхождения товара в Кыргызской Республике.

 

 

 

 

Раздел X. Использование наименования места происхождения товара

 

 

 

Статья 36. Использование наименования места происхождения товара

 

Использованием наименования места происхождения товара считается применение его на товаре, упаковке, в рекламе, проспектах, бланках и иной документации, связанной с введением товара в хозяйственный оборот.

 

Использованием может быть признано также применение наименования места происхождения товара в качестве адреса в сети Интернет.

 

Не допускается использование зарегистрированного наименования места происхождения товара лицами, не имеющими свидетельства, даже если при этом указывается подлинное место происхождения товара или наименование используется в переводе либо в сочетании с такими выражениями, как “род”, “тип”, “имитация” и тому подобными, а также использование сходного обозначения для любых товаров, способного ввести потребителя в заблуждение относительно места происхождения и особых свойств товара.

 

Владелец свидетельства не вправе предоставлять лицензии на пользование наименованием места происхождения товара другим лицам.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 37. Предупредительная маркировка

 

 

 

Владелец свидетельства может проставлять рядом с наименованием места происхождения товара предупредительную маркировку в виде словесного обозначения “зарегистрированное наименование места происхождения товара” или “Рег. НМПТ”, указывающую на то, что применяемое обозначение является наименованием места происхождения товара, зарегистрированным в Кыргызской Республике.

 

 

 

 

 

Раздел XI. Прекращение правовой охраны наименования места происхождения товара

 

 

 

Статья 38. Признание регистрации наименования места происхождения товара и свидетельства на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара недействительными

 

 

 

Регистрация наименования места происхождения товара может быть признана недействительной в течение всего срока ее действия, если она была произведена в нарушение требований, установленных настоящим Законом.

 

Свидетельство на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара может быть признано недействительным, если оно было выдано в нарушение требований, установленных настоящим Законом, или в связи с признанием недействительной регистрации наименования места происхождения товара.

 

Любое лицо может подать по основаниям, указанным в частях первой и второй настоящей статьи, возражение против регистрации наименования места происхождения товара и выдачи свидетельства на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара в Апелляционный совет. Возражение должно быть рассмотрено в течение четырех месяцев с даты его поступления. Лицо, подавшее возражение, а также обладатель свидетельства имеют право участвовать в его рассмотрении.

 

Решение Апелляционного совета может быть обжаловано в суд заявителем в течение шести месяцев с даты его получения.

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 38-1. Прекращение действия регистрации наименования места происхождения товара и свидетельства на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара

 

 

 

Действие регистрации наименования места происхождения товара прекращается:

 

– в связи с исчезновением характерных для данного географического объекта условий и невозможностью производства товара с указанными в Реестре свойствами;

 

– в связи с утратой иностранными юридическими или физическими лицами права на данное наименование места происхождения товара в стране происхождения товара.

 

Действие свидетельства на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара прекращается:

 

– в связи с прекращением действия регистрации наименования места происхождения товара по основаниям, предусмотренным частью первой настоящей статьи;

 

– в связи с истечением срока его действия, предусмотренного статьей 33 настоящего Закона;

 

– в связи с утратой товаром особых свойств, указанных в Реестре в отношении данного наименования места происхождения товара;

 

– при ликвидации юридического лица без образования правопреемника или прекращении предпринимательской деятельности физического лица – владельца свидетельства;

 

– на основании заявления владельца свидетельства, поданного в Кыргызпатент.

 

Любое лицо по основаниям, предусмотренным частью первой и абзацем четвертым части второй настоящей статьи, может подать возражение против прекращения действия регистрации наименования места происхождения товара и свидетельства на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара в Апелляционный совет. Заявление должно быть рассмотрено в течение четырех месяцев с даты его поступления.

 

Решение Апелляционного совета может быть обжаловано в суд заявителем в течение шести месяцев с даты его получения.

 

 

 

 

 

Раздел XII. Заключительные положения

 

 

 

Статья 39. Пошлины

 

За совершение юридически значимых действий, связанных с регистрацией товарного знака, регистрацией и предоставлением права пользования наименованием места происхождения товара, взимаются пошлины в соответствии с законодательством Кыргызской Республики о неналоговых доходах.

 

 

 

Пошлины уплачиваются в республиканский бюджет заявителем, владельцем товарного знака и свидетельства на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара или по соглашению с ними любыми физическими или юридическими лицами.

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 40. Рассмотрение споров, связанных с применением настоящего Закона

 

 

 

Споры, связанные с применением настоящего Закона, рассматриваются судами в порядке, установленном законодательством Кыргызской Республики, включая споры:

 

1) о нарушении исключительного права на товарный знак;

 

2) о заключении и исполнении лицензионного договора и договора об уступке товарного знака;

 

3) о незаконном использовании наименования места происхождения товара;

 

4) о неиспользовании товарного знака в соответствии со статьей 20 настоящего Закона.

 

Апелляционный совет рассматривает споры, отнесенные к его компетенции в соответствии с настоящим Законом.

 

 

 

 

Статья 41. Ответственность за незаконное использование товарного знака и наименования места происхождения товара

 

 

 

Использование товарного знака или обозначения, сходного с товарным знаком в отношении однородных товаров, а также общеизвестного товарного знака или обозначения, сходного с ним, или наименования места происхождения товара или обозначения, сходного с наименованием места происхождения товара в отношении любых товаров, противоречащее настоящему Закону, влечет за собой гражданскую, административную или уголовную ответственность в соответствии с законодательством Кыргызской Республики.

 

Защита гражданских прав от незаконного использования товарного знака помимо требований о прекращении нарушения или взыскания причиненных убытков осуществляется также путем:

 

публикации судебного решения в целях восстановления деловой репутации потерпевшего;

 

удаления с товара или его упаковки незаконно используемых товарного знака или обозначения, сходного с ним до степени смешения, и (или) уничтожения изготовленных изображений товарного знака или обозначения, сходного с ним до степени смешения;

 

ареста или уничтожения товаров, в отношении которых был незаконно применен товарный знак.

 

Лицо, производящее предупредительную маркировку по отношению к незарегистрированному в Кыргызской Республике товарному знаку или наименованию места происхождения товара, несет ответственность в порядке, предусмотренном законодательством Кыргызской Республики.

 

Лицо, незаконно использующее зарегистрированное наименование места происхождения товара или сходное с таким наименованием обозначение, обязано по требованию владельца свидетельства на право пользования наименованием места происхождения товара, общественной организации, государственного органа или прокурора:

 

прекратить его использование, возместить всем потерпевшим причиненные убытки, а также внести в доход местного бюджета сумму полученной при незаконном использовании наименования места происхождения товара прибыли, превышающую возмещенные убытки;

 

опубликовать судебное решение в целях восстановления деловой репутации потерпевшего;

 

удалить с товара или его упаковки незаконно используемое наименование места происхождения товара или обозначение, сходное с ним до степени смешения, или уничтожить изготовленные изображения наименования места происхождения товара или обозначения, сходного с ним до степени смешения.

 

Удаление товарного знака и наименования места происхождения товара с товара или с его упаковки, арест или уничтожение товара, содержащего незаконно использованные товарные знаки, производится с соблюдением права владельца такого товара на защиту своих прав в установленном законом порядке.

 

 

 

 

 

Статья 42. Права иностранных юридических и физических лиц

Иностранные юридические и физические лица пользуются правами, предусмотренными настоящим Законом и иными нормативными правовыми актами, относящимися к правовой охране товарных знаков и наименований мест происхождения товаров, наравне с юридическими и физическими лицами Кыргызской Республики или на основе принципа взаимности.

 

Статья 43. Международные договоры

Если вступившим в установленном законом порядке в силу международным договором, участницей которого является Кыргызская Республика, установлены иные правила, чем те, которые содержатся в настоящем Законе, то применяются правила международного договора.

 

 

 

Статья 44. О введении в действие настоящего Закона

Ввести в действие Закон Кыргызской Республики “О товарных знаках, знаках обслуживания и наименованиях мест происхождения товаров” с момента опубликования.

Президент

Кыргызской Республики

А.Акаев

The Law of Kyrgyzstan on Trademarks, Service Marks, Geographical Indications and Appellations of Origin of Goods

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() Закон КР “О конкуренции”

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Сингапурский договор о законах по товарным знакам

Published on: 10.09.2011
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Trademark Law Treaty (ТLТ)

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Notice: Kyrgyz Republic was accede to Trademark Law Treaty of April 23, 2002

(adopted at Geneva on October 27, 1994)

Trademark Law Treaty

 

Article 1. Abbreviated Expressions

For the purposes of this Treaty, unless expressly stated otherwise:

(i) “Office” means the agency entrusted by a Contracting Party with the registration of marks;

(ii) “registration” means the registration of a mark by an Office;

(iii) “application” means an application for registration;

(iv) references to a “person” shall be construed as references to both a natural person and a legal entity;

(v) “holder” means the person whom the register of marks shows as the holder of the registration;

(vi) “register of marks” means the collection of data maintained by an Office, which includes the contents of all registrations and all data recorded in respect of all registrations, irrespective of the medium in which such data are stored;

(vii) “Paris Convention” means the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed at Paris on March 20, 1883, as revised and amended;

(viii) “Nice Classification” means the classification established by the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, signed at Nice on June 15, 1957, as revised and amended;

(ix) “Contracting Party” means any State or intergovernmental organization party to this Treaty;

(x) references to an “instrument of ratification” shall be construed as including references to instruments of acceptance and approval;

(xi) “Organization” means the World Intellectual Property Organization;

(xii) “Director General” means the Director General of the Organization;

(xiii) “Regulations” means the Regulations under this Treaty that are referred to in Article 17.

 

Article 2. Marks to Which the Treaty Applies

(1) [ Nature of Marks ]

(a) This Treaty shall apply to marks consisting of visible signs, provided that only those Contracting Parties which accept for registration three-dimensional marks shall be obliged to apply this Treaty to such marks.

(b) This Treaty shall not apply to hologram marks and to marks not consisting of visible signs, in particular, sound marks and olfactory marks.

(2) [ Kinds of Marks ]

(a) This Treaty shall apply to marks relating to goods (trademarks) or services (service marks) or both goods and services.

(b) This Treaty shall not apply to collective marks, certification marks and guarantee marks.

 

Article 3. Application

(1) [ Indications or Elements Contained in or Accompanying an Application; Fee ]

(a) Any Contracting Party may require that an application contain some or all of the following indications or elements:

(i) a request for registration;

(ii) the name and address of the applicant;

(iii) the name of a State of which the applicant is a national if he is the national of any State, the name of a State in which the applicant has his domicile, if any, and the name of a State in which the applicant has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment, if any;

(iv) where the applicant is a legal entity, the legal nature of that legal entity and the State, and, where applicable, the territorial unit within that State, under the law of which the said legal entity has been organized;

(v) where the applicant has a representative, the name and address of that representative;

(vi) where an address for service is required under Article 4(2)(b), such address;

(vii) where the applicant wishes to take advantage of the priority of an earlier application, a declaration claiming the priority of that earlier application, together with indications and evidence in support of the declaration of priority that may be required pursuant to Article 4 of the Paris Convention;

(viii) where the applicant wishes to take advantage of any protection resulting from the display of goods and/or services in an exhibition, a declaration to that effect, together with indications in support of that declaration, as required by the law of the Contracting Party;

(ix) where the Office of the Contracting Party uses characters (letters and numbers) that it considers as being standard and where the applicant wishes that the mark be registered and published in standard characters, a statement to that effect;

(x) where the applicant wishes to claim color as a distinctive feature of the mark, a statement to that effect as well as the name or names of the color or colors claimed and an indication, in respect of each color, of the principal parts of the mark which are in that color;

(xi) where the mark is a three-dimensional mark, a statement to that effect;

(xii) one or more reproductions of the mark;

(xiii) a transliteration of the mark or of certain parts of the mark;

(xiv) a translation of the mark or of certain parts of the mark;

(xv) the names of the goods and/or services for which the registration is sought, grouped according to the classes of the Nice Classification, each group preceded by the number of the class of that Classification to which that group of goods or services belongs and presented in the order of the classes of the said Classification;

(xvi) a signature by the person specified in paragraph (4);

(xvii) a declaration of intention to use the mark, as required by the law of the Contracting Party.

(b) The applicant may file, instead of or in addition to the declaration of intention to use the mark referred to in subparagraph (a)(xvii), a declaration of actual use of the mark and evidence to that effect, as required by the law of the Contracting Party.

(c) Any Contracting Party may require that, in respect of the application, fees be paid to the Office.

(2) [ Presentation ] As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the application, no Contracting Party shall refuse the application,

(i) where the application is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to paragraph (3), on a form corresponding to the application Form provided for in the Regulations,

(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the application is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to paragraph (3), to the application Form referred to in item (i).

(3) [ Language ] Any Contracting Party may require that the application be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office. Where the Office admits more than one language, the applicant may be required to comply with any other language requirement applicable with respect to the Office, provided that the application may not be required to be in more than one language.

(4) [ Signature ]

(a) The signature referred to in paragraph (1)(a)(xvi) may be the signature of the applicant or the signature of his representative.

(b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a), any Contracting Party may require that the declarations referred to in paragraph (1)(a)(xvii) and (b) be signed by the applicant himself even if he has a representative.

(5) [ Single Application for Goods and/or Services in Several Classes ] One and the same application may relate to several goods and/or services, irrespective of whether they belong to one class or to several classes of the Nice Classification.

(6) [ Actual Use ] Any Contracting Party may require that, where a declaration of intention to use has been filed under paragraph (1)(a)(xvii), the applicant furnish to the Office within a time limit fixed in its law, subject to the minimum time limit prescribed in the Regulations, evidence of the actual use of the mark, as required by the said law.

(7) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) to (4) and (6) be complied with in respect of the application. In particular, the following may not be required in respect of the application throughout its pendency:

(i) the furnishing of any certificate of, or extract from, a register of commerce;

(ii) an indication of the applicant’s carrying on of an industrial or commercial activity, as well as the furnishing of evidence to that effect;

(iii) an indication of the applicant’s carrying on of an activity corresponding to the goods and/or services listed in the application, as well as the furnishing of evidence to that effect;

(iv) the furnishing of evidence to the effect that the mark has been registered in the register of marks of another Contracting Party or of a State party to the Paris Convention which is not a Contracting Party, except where the applicant claims the application of Article 6quinquies of the Paris Convention.

(8) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office in the course of the examination of the application where the Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication or element contained in the application.

 

Article 4. Representation; Address for Service

(1) [ Representatives Admitted to Practice ] Any Contracting Party may require that any person appointed as representative for the purposes of any procedure before the Office be a representative admitted to practice before the Office.

(2) [ Mandatory Representation; Address for Service ]

(a) Any Contracting Party may require that, for the purposes of any procedure before the Office, any person who has neither a domicile nor a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment on its territory be represented by a representative.

(b) Any Contracting Party may, to the extent that it does not require representation in accordance with subparagraph (a), require that, for the purposes of any procedure before the Office, any person who has neither a domicile nor a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment on its territory have an address for service on that territory.

(3) [ Power of Attorney ]

(a) Whenever a Contracting Party allows or requires an applicant, a holder or any other interested person to be represented by a representative before the Office, it may require that the representative be appointed in a separate communication (hereinafter referred to as “power of attorney”) indicating the name of, and signed by, the applicant, the holder or the other person, as the case may be.

(b) The power of attorney may relate to one or more applications and/or registrations identified in the power of attorney or, subject to any exception indicated by the appointing person, to all existing and future applications and/or registrations of that person.

(c) The power of attorney may limit the powers of the representative to certain acts. Any Contracting Party may require that any power of attorney under which the representative has the right to withdraw an application or to surrender a registration contain an express indication to that effect.

(d) Where a communication is submitted to the Office by a person who refers to himself in the communication as a representative but where the Office is, at the time of the receipt of the communication, not in possession of the required power of attorney, the Contracting Party may require that the power of attorney be submitted to the Office within the time limit fixed by the Contracting Party, subject to the minimum time limit prescribed in the Regulations. Any Contracting Party may provide that, where the power of attorney has not been submitted to the Office within the time limit fixed by the Contracting Party, the communication by the said person shall have no effect.

(e) As regards the requirements concerning the presentation and contents of the power of attorney, no Contracting Party shall refuse the effects of the power of attorney,

(i) where the power of attorney is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to paragraph (4), on a form corresponding to the power of attorney Form provided for in the Regulations,

(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the power of attorney is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to paragraph (4), to the power of attorney Form referred to in item (i).

(4) [ Language ] Any Contracting Party may require that the power of attorney be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.

(5) [ Reference to Power of Attorney ] Any Contracting Party may require that any communication made to the Office by a representative for the purposes of a procedure before the Office contain a reference to the power of attorney on the basis of which the representative acts.

(6) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (3) to (5) be complied with in respect of the matters dealt with in those paragraphs.

(7) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office where the Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication contained in any communication referred to in paragraphs (2) to (5).

 

Article 5. Filing Date

(1) [ Permitted Requirements ]

(a) Subject to subparagraph (b) and paragraph (2), a Contracting Party shall accord as the filing date of an application the date on which the Office received the following indications and elements in the language required under Article 3(3):

(i) an express or implicit indication that the registration of a mark is sought;

(ii) indications allowing the identity of the applicant to be established;

(iii) indications sufficient to contact the applicant or his representative, if any, by mail;

(iv) a sufficiently clear reproduction of the mark whose registration is sought;

(v) the list of the goods and/or services for which the registration is sought;

(vi) where Article 3(1)(a)(xvii) or (b) applies, the declaration referred to in Article 3(1)(a)(xvii) or the declaration and evidence referred to in Article 3(1)(b), respectively, as required by the law of the Contracting Party, those declarations being, if so required by the said law, signed by the applicant himself even if he has a representative.

(b) Any Contracting Party may accord as the filing date of the application the date on which the Office received only some, rather than all, of the indications and elements referred to in subparagraph (a) or received them in a language other than the language required under Article 3(3).

(2) [ Permitted Additional Requirement ]

(a) A Contracting Party may provide that no filing date shall be accorded until the required fees are paid.

(b) A Contracting Party may apply the requirement referred to in subparagraph (a) only if it applied such requirement at the time of becoming party to this Treaty.

(3) [ Corrections and Time Limits ] The modalities of, and time limits for, corrections under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be fixed in the Regulations.

(4) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) be complied with in respect of the filing date.

 

Article 6. Single Registration for Goods and/or Services in Several Classes

Where goods and/or services belonging to several classes of the Nice Classification have been included in one and the same application, such an application shall result in one and the same registration.

 

Article 7. Division of Application and Registration

(1) [ Division of Application ]

(a) Any application listing several goods and/or services (hereinafter referred to as “initial application”) may,

(i) at least until the decision by the Office on the registration of the mark,

(ii) during any opposition proceedings against the decision of the Office to register the mark,

(iii) during any appeal proceedings against the decision on the registration of the mark, be divided by the applicant or at his request into two or more applications (hereinafter referred to as “divisional applications”) by distributing among the latter the goods and/or services listed in the initial application. The divisional applications shall preserve the filing date of the initial application and the benefit of the right of priority, if any.

(b) Any Contracting Party shall, subject to subparagraph (a), be free to establish requirements for the division of an application, including the payment of fees.

(2) [ Division of Registration ] Paragraph (1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, with respect to a division of a registration. Such a division shall be permitted

(i) during any proceedings in which the validity of the registration is challenged before the Office by a third party,

(ii) during any appeal proceedings against a decision taken by the Office during the former proceedings, provided that a Contracting Party may exclude the possibility of the division of registrations if its law allows third parties to oppose the registration of a mark before the mark is registered.

 

Article 8. Signature

(1) [ Communication on Paper ] Where a communication to the Office of a Contracting Party is on paper and a signature is required, that Contracting Party

(i) shall, subject to item (iii), accept a handwritten signature,

(ii) shall be free to allow, instead of a handwritten signature, the use of other forms of signature, such as a printed or stamped signature, or the use of a seal,

(iii) may, where the natural person who signs the communication is its national and such person’s address is in its territory, require that a seal be used instead of a handwritten signature,

(iv) may, where a seal is used, require that the seal be accompanied by an indication in letters of the name of the natural person whose seal is used.

(2) [ Communication by Telefacsimile ]

(a) Where a Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile, it shall consider the communication signed if, on the printout produced by the telefacsimile, the reproduction of the signature, or the reproduction of the seal together with, where required under paragraph (1)(iv), the indication in letters of the name of the natural person whose seal is used, appears.

(b) The Contracting Party referred to in subparagraph (a) may require that the paper whose reproduction was transmitted by telefacsimile be filed with the Office within a certain period, subject to the minimum period prescribed in the Regulations.

(3) [ Communication by Electronic Means ] Where a Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by electronic means, it shall consider the communication signed if the latter identifies the sender of the communication by electronic means as prescribed by the Contracting Party.

(4) [ Prohibition of Requirement of Certification ] No Contracting Party may require the attestation, notarization, authentication, legalization or other certification of any signature or other means of self-identification referred to in the preceding paragraphs, except, if the law of the Contracting Party so provides, where the signature concerns the surrender of a registration.

 

Article 9. Classification of Goods and/or Services

(1) [ Indications of Goods and/or Services ] Each registration and any publication effected by an Office which concerns an application or registration and which indicates goods and/or services shall indicate the goods and/or services by their names, grouped according to the classes of the Nice Classification, and each group shall be preceded by the number of the class of that Classification to which that group of goods or services belongs and shall be presented in the order of the classes of the said Classification.

(2) [ Goods or Services in the Same Class or in Different Classes ]

(a) Goods or services may not be considered as being similar to each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication by the Office, they appear in the same class of the Nice Classification.

(b) Goods or services may not be considered as being dissimilar from each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication by the Office, they appear in different classes of the Nice Classification.

 

Article 10. Changes in Names or Addresses

(1) [ Changes in the Name or Address of the Holder ]

(a) Where there is no change in the person of the holder but there is a change in his name and/or address, each Contracting Party shall accept that a request for the recordal of the change by the Office in its register of marks be made in a communication signed by the holder or his representative and indicating the registration number of the registration concerned and the change to be recorded. As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the request, no Contracting Party shall refuse the request,

(i) where the request is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to subparagraph (c), on a form corresponding to the request Form provided for in the Regulations,

(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the request is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to subparagraph (c), to the request Form referred to in item (i).

(b) Any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate

(i) the name and address of the holder;

(ii) where the holder has a representative, the name and address of that representative;

(iii) where the holder has an address for service, such address.

(c) Any Contracting Party may require that the request be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.

(d) Any Contracting Party may require that, in respect of the request, a fee be paid to the Office.

(e) A single request shall be sufficient even where the change relates to more than one registration, provided that the registration numbers of all registrations concerned are indicated in the request.

(2) [ Change in the Name or Address of the Applicant ] Paragraph (1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, where the change concerns an application or applications, or both an application or applications and a registration or registrations, provided that, where the application number of any application concerned has not yet been issued or is not known to the applicant or his representative, the request otherwise identifies that application as prescribed in the Regulations.

(3) [ Change in the Name or Address of the Representative or in the Address for Service ] Paragraph (1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to any change in the name or address of the representative, if any, and to any change relating to the address for service, if any.

(4) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) to (3) be complied with in respect of the request referred to in this Article. In particular, the furnishing of any certificate concerning the change may not be required.

(5) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office where the Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication contained in the request.

 

Article 11. Change in Ownership

(1) [ Change in the Ownership of a Registration ]

(a) Where there is a change in the person of the holder, each Contracting Party shall accept that a request for the recordal of the change by the Office in its register of marks be made in a communication signed by the holder or his representative, or by the person who acquired the ownership (hereinafter referred to as “new owner”) or his representative, and indicating the registration number of the registration concerned and the change to be recorded. As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the request, no Contracting Party shall refuse the request,

(i) where the request is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to paragraph (2)(a), on a form corresponding to the request Form provided for in the Regulations,

(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the request is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to paragraph (2)(a), to the request Form referred to in item (i).

(b) Where the change in ownership results from a contract, any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate that fact and be accompanied, at the option of the requesting party, by one of the following:

(i) a copy of the contract, which copy may be required to be certified, by a notary public or any other competent public authority, as being in conformity with the original contract;

(ii) an extract of the contract showing the change in ownership, which extract may be required to be certified, by a notary public or any other competent public authority, as being a true extract of the contract;

(iii) an uncertified certificate of transfer drawn up in the form and with the content as prescribed in the Regulations and signed by both the holder and the new owner;

(iv) an uncertified transfer document drawn up in the form and with the content as prescribed in the Regulations and signed by both the holder and the new owner.

(c) Where the change in ownership results from a merger, any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate that fact and be accompanied by a copy of a document, which document originates from the competent authority and evidences the merger, such as a copy of an extract from a register of commerce, and that that copy be certified by the authority which issued the document or by a notary public or any other competent public authority, as being in conformity with the original document.

(d) Where there is a change in the person of one or more but not all of several co-holders and such change in ownership results from a contract or a merger, any Contracting Party may require that any co-holder in respect of which there is no change in ownership give his express consent to the change in ownership in a document signed by him.

(e) Where the change in ownership does not result from a contract or a merger but from another ground, for example, from operation of law or a court decision, any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate that fact and be accompanied by a copy of a document evidencing the change and that that copy be certified as being in conformity with the original document by the authority which issued the document or by a notary public or any other competent public authority.

(f) Any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate

(i) the name and address of the holder;

(ii) the name and address of the new owner;

(iii) the name of a State of which the new owner is a national if he is the national of any State, the name of a State in which the new owner has his domicile, if any, and the name of a State in which the new owner has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment, if any;

(iv) where the new owner is a legal entity, the legal nature of that legal entity and the State, and, where applicable, the territorial unit within that State, under the law of which the said legal entity has been organized;

(v) where the holder has a representative, the name and address of that representative;

(vi) where the holder has an address for service, such address;

(vii) where the new owner has a representative, the name and address of that representative;

(viii) where the new owner is required to have an address for service under Article 4(2)(b), such address.

(g) Any Contracting Party may require that, in respect of the request, a fee be paid to the Office.

(h) A single request shall be sufficient even where the change relates to more than one registration, provided that the holder and the new owner are the same for each registration and that the registration numbers of all registrations concerned are indicated in the request.

(i) Where the change of ownership does not affect all the goods and/or services listed in the holder’s registration, and the applicable law allows the recording of such change, the Office shall create a separate registration referring to the goods and/or services in respect of which the ownership has changed.

(2) [ Language; Translation ]

(a) Any Contracting Party may require that the request, the certificate of transfer or the transfer document referred to in paragraph (1) be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.

(b) Any Contracting Party may require that, if the documents referred to in paragraph (1)(b)(i) and (ii), (c) and (e) are not in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office, the request be accompanied by a translation or a certified translation of the required document in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.

(3) [ Change in the Ownership of an Application ] Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, where the change in ownership concerns an application or applications, or both an application or applications and a registration or registrations, provided that, where the application number of any application concerned has not yet been issued or is not known to the applicant or his representative, the request otherwise identifies that application as prescribed in the Regulations.

(4) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) to (3) be complied with in respect of the request referred to in this Article. In particular, the following may not be required:

(i) subject to paragraph (1)(c), the furnishing of any certificate of, or extract from, a register of commerce;

(ii) an indication of the new owner’s carrying on of an industrial or commercial activity, as well as the furnishing of evidence to that effect;

(iii) an indication of the new owner’s carrying on of an activity corresponding to the goods and/or services affected by the change in ownership, as well as the furnishing of evidence to either effect;

(iv) an indication that the holder transferred, entirely or in part, his business or the relevant goodwill to the new owner, as well as the furnishing of evidence to either effect.

(5) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence, or further evidence where paragraph (1)(c) or (e) applies, be furnished to the Office where that Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication contained in the request or in any document referred to in the present Article.

 

Article 12. Correction of a Mistake

(1) [ Correction of a Mistake in Respect of a Registration ]

(a) Each Contracting Party shall accept that the request for the correction of a mistake which was made in the application or other request communicated to the Office and which mistake is reflected in its register of marks and/or any publication by the Office be made in a communication signed by the holder or his representative and indicating the registration number of the registration concerned, the mistake to be corrected and the correction to be entered. As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the request, no Contracting Party shall refuse the request,

(i) where the request is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to subparagraph (c), on a form corresponding to the request Form provided for in the Regulations,

(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the request is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to subparagraph (c), to the request Form referred to in item (i).

(b) Any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate

(i) the name and address of the holder;

(ii) where the holder has a representative, the name and address of that representative;

(iii) where the holder has an address for service, such address.

(c) Any Contracting Party may require that the request be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.

(d) Any Contracting Party may require that, in respect of the request, a fee be paid to the Office.

(e) A single request shall be sufficient even where the correction relates to more than one registration of the same person, provided that the mistake and the requested correction are the same for each registration and that the registration numbers of all registrations concerned are indicated in the request.

(2) [ Correction of a Mistake in Respect of an Application ] Paragraph (1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, where the mistake concerns an application or applications, or both an application or applications and a registration or registrations, provided that, where the application number of any application concerned has not yet been issued or is not known to the applicant or his representative, the request otherwise identifies that application as prescribed in the Regulations.

(3) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) be complied with in respect of the request referred to in this Article.

(4) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office where the Office may reasonably doubt that the alleged mistake is in fact a mistake.

(5) [ Mistakes Made by the Office ] The Office of a Contracting Party shall correct its own mistakes, ex officio or upon request, for no fee.

(6) [ Uncorrectable Mistakes ] No Contracting Party shall be obliged to apply paragraphs (1), (2) and (5) to any mistake which cannot be corrected under its law.

 

Article 13. Duration and Renewal of Registration

(1) [ Indications or Elements Contained in or Accompanying a Request for Renewal; Fee ]

(a) Any Contracting Party may require that the renewal of a registration be subject to the filing of a request and that such request contain some or all of the following indications:

(i) an indication that renewal is sought;

(ii) the name and address of the holder;

(iii) the registration number of the registration concerned;

(iv) at the option of the Contracting Party, the filing date of the application which resulted in the registration concerned or the registration date of the registration concerned;

(v) where the holder has a representative, the name and address of that representative;

(vi) where the holder has an address for service, such address;

(vii) where the Contracting Party allows the renewal of a registration to be made for some only of the goods and/or services which are recorded in the register of marks and such a renewal is requested, the names of the recorded goods and/or services for which the renewal is requested or the names of the recorded goods and/or services for which the renewal is not requested, grouped according to the classes of the Nice Classification, each group preceded by the number of the class of that Classification to which that group of goods or services belongs and presented in the order of the classes of the said Classification;

(viii) where a Contracting Party allows a request for renewal to be filed by a person other than the holder or his representative and the request is filed by such a person, the name and address of that person;

(ix) a signature by the holder or his representative or, where item (viii) applies, a signature by the person referred to in that item.

(b) Any Contracting Party may require that, in respect of the request for renewal, a fee be paid to the Office. Once the fee has been paid in respect of the initial period of the registration or of any renewal period, no further payment may be required for the maintenance of the registration in respect of that period. Fees associated with the furnishing of a declaration and/or evidence of use shall not be regarded, for the purposes of this subparagraph, as payments required for the maintenance of the registration and shall not be affected by this subparagraph.

(c) Any Contracting Party may require that the request for renewal be presented, and the corresponding fee referred to in subparagraph (b) be paid, to the Office within the period fixed by the law of the Contracting Party, subject to the minimum periods prescribed in the Regulations.

(2) [ Presentation ] As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the request for renewal, no Contracting Party shall refuse the request,

(i) where the request is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to paragraph (3), on a form corresponding to the request Form provided for in the Regulations,

(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the request is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to paragraph (3), to the request Form referred to in item (i).

(3) [ Language ] Any Contracting Party may require that the request for renewal be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.

(4) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) to (3) be complied with in respect of the request for renewal. In particular, the following may not be required:

(i) any reproduction or other identification of the mark;

(ii) the furnishing of evidence to the effect that the mark has been registered, or that its registration has been renewed, in the register of marks of any other Contracting Party;

(iii) the furnishing of a declaration and/or evidence concerning use of the mark.

(5) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office in the course of the examination of the request for renewal where the Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication or element contained in the request for renewal.

(6) [ Prohibition of Substantive Examination ] No Office of a Contracting Party may, for the purposes of effecting the renewal, examine the registration as to substance.

(7) [ Duration ] The duration of the initial period of the registration, and the duration of each renewal period, shall be 10 years.

 

Article 14. Observations in Case of Intended Refusal

An application or a request under Articles 10 to 13 may not be refused totally or in part by an Office without giving the applicant or the requesting party, as the case may be, an opportunity to make observations on the intended refusal within a reasonable time limit.

 

Article 15. Obligation to Comply with the Paris Convention

Any Contracting Party shall comply with the provisions of the Paris Convention which concern marks.

 

Article 16. Service Marks

Any Contracting Party shall register service marks and apply to such marks the provisions of the Paris Convention which concern trademarks.

 

Article 17. Regulations

(1) [ Content ]

(a) The Regulations annexed to this Treaty provide rules concerning

(i) matters which this Treaty expressly provides to be “prescribed in the Regulations”;

(ii) any details useful in the implementation of the provisions of this Treaty;

(iii) any administrative requirements, matters or procedures.

(b) The Regulations also contain Model International Forms.

(2) [ Conflict Between the Treaty and the Regulations ] In the case of conflict between the provisions of this Treaty and those of the Regulations, the former shall prevail.

 

Article 18. Revision; Protocols

(1) [ Revision ] This Treaty may be revised by a diplomatic conference.

(2) [ Protocols ] For the purposes of further developing the harmonization of laws on marks, protocols may be adopted by a diplomatic conference insofar as those protocols do not contravene the provisions of this Treaty.

 

Article 19. Becoming Party to the Treaty

(1) [ Eligibility ] The following entities may sign and, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and Article 20(1) and (3), become party to this Treaty:

(i) any State member of the Organization in respect of which marks may be registered with its own Office;

(ii) any intergovernmental organization which maintains an Office in which marks may be registered with effect in the territory in which the constituting treaty of the intergovernmental organization applies, in all its member States or in those of its member States which are designated for such purpose in the relevant application, provided that all the member States of the intergovernmental organization are members of the Organization;

(iii) any State member of the Organization in respect of which marks may be registered only through the Office of another specified State that is a member of the Organization;

(iv) any State member of the Organization in respect of which marks may be registered only through the Office maintained by an intergovernmental organization of which that State is a member;

(v) any State member of the Organization in respect of which marks may be registered only through an Office common to a group of States members of the Organization.

(2) [ Ratification or Accession ] Any entity referred to in paragraph (1) may deposit

(i) an instrument of ratification, if it has signed this Treaty,

(ii) an instrument of accession, if it has not signed this Treaty.

(3) [ Effective Date of Deposit ]

(a) Subject to subparagraph (b), the effective date of the deposit of an instrument of ratification or accession shall be,

(i) in the case of a State referred to in paragraph (1)(i), the date on which the instrument of that State is deposited;

(ii) in the case of an intergovernmental organization, the date on which the instrument of that intergovernmental organization is deposited;

(iii) in the case of a State referred to in paragraph (1)(iii), the date on which the following condition is fulfilled: the instrument of that State has been deposited and the instrument of the other, specified State has been deposited;

(iv) in the case of a State referred to in paragraph (1)(iv), the date applicable under (ii), above;

(v) in the case of a State member of a group of States referred to in paragraph (1)(v), the date on which the instruments of all the States members of the group have been deposited.

(b) Any instrument of ratification or accession (referred to in this subparagraph as “instrument”) of a State may be accompanied by a declaration making it a condition to its being considered as deposited that the instrument of one other State or one intergovernmental organization, or the instruments of two other States, or the instruments of one other State and one intergovernmental organization, specified by name and eligible to become party to this Treaty, is or are also deposited. The instrument containing such a declaration shall be considered to have been deposited on the day on which the condition indicated in the declaration is fulfilled. However, when the deposit of any instrument specified in the declaration is, itself, accompanied by a declaration of the said kind, that instrument shall be considered as deposited on the day on which the condition specified in the latter declaration is fulfilled.

(c) Any declaration made under paragraph (b) may be withdrawn, in its entirety or in part, at any time. Any such withdrawal shall become effective on the date on which the notification of withdrawal is received by the Director General.

 

Article 20. Effective Date of Ratifications and Accessions

(1) [ Instruments to Be Taken Into Consideration ] For the purposes of this Article, only instruments of ratification or accession that are deposited by entities referred to in Article 19(1) and that have an effective date according to Article 19(3) shall be taken into consideration.

(2) [ Entry Into Force of the Treaty ] This Treaty shall enter into force three months after five States have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession.

(3) [ Entry Into Force of Ratifications and Accessions Subsequent to the Entry Into Force of the Treaty ] Any entity not covered by paragraph (2) shall become bound by this Treaty three months after the date on which it has deposited its instrument of ratification or accession.

 

Article 21. Reservations

(1) [ Special Kinds of Marks ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare through a reservation that, notwithstanding Article 2(1)(a) and (2)(a), any of the provisions of Articles 3(1) and (2), 5, 7, 11 and 13 shall not apply to associated marks, defensive marks or derivative marks. Such reservation shall specify those of the aforementioned provisions to which the reservation relates.

(2) [ Modalities ] Any reservation under paragraph (1) shall be made in a declaration accompanying the instrument of ratification of, or accession to, this Treaty of the State or intergovernmental organization making the reservation.

(3) [ Withdrawal ] Any reservation under paragraph (1) may be withdrawn at any time.

(4) [ Prohibition of Other Reservations ] No reservation to this Treaty other than the reservation allowed under paragraph (1) shall be permitted.

 

Article 22. Transitional Provisions

(1) [ Single Application for Goods and Services in Several Classes; Division of Application ]

(a) Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 3(5), an application may be filed with the Office only in respect of goods or services which belong to one class of the Nice Classification.

(b) Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 6, where goods and/or services belonging to several classes of the Nice Classification have been included in one and the same application, such application shall result in two or more registrations in the register of marks, provided that each and every such registration shall bear a reference to all other such registrations resulting from the said application.

(c) Any State or intergovernmental organization that has made a declaration under subparagraph (a) may declare that, notwithstanding Article 7(1), no application may be divided.

(2) [ Single Power of Attorney for More Than One Application and/or Registration ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 4(3)(b), a power of attorney may only relate to one application or one registration.

(3) [ Prohibition of Requirement of Certification of Signature of Power of Attorney and of Signature of Application ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 8(4), the signature of a power of attorney or the signature by the applicant of an application may be required to be the subject of an attestation, notarization, authentication, legalization or other certification.

(4) [ Single Request for More Than One Application and/or Registration in Respect of a Change in Name and/or Address, a Change in Ownership or a Correction of a Mistake ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 10(1)(e), (2) and (3), Article 11(1)(h) and (3) and Article 12(1)(e) and (2), a request for the recordal of a change in name and/or address, a request for the recordal of a change in ownership and a request for the correction of a mistake may only relate to one application or one registration.

(5) [ Furnishing, on the Occasion of Renewal, of Declaration and/or Evidence Concerning Use ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 13(4)(iii), it will require, on the occasion of renewal, the furnishing of a declaration and/or of evidence concerning use of the mark.

(6) [ Substantive Examination on the Occasion of Renewal ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 13(6), the Office may, on the occasion of the first renewal of a registration covering services, examine such registration as to substance, provided that such examination shall be limited to the elimination of multiple registrations based on applications filed during a period of six months following the entry into force of the law of such State or organization that introduced, before the entry into force of this Treaty, the possibility of registering service marks.

(7) [ Common Provisions ]

(a) A State or an intergovernmental organization may make a declaration under paragraphs (1) to (6) only if, at the time of depositing its instrument of ratification of, or accession to, this Treaty, the continued application of its law would, without such a declaration, be contrary to the relevant provisions of this Treaty.

(b) Any declaration under paragraphs (1) to (6) shall accompany the instrument of ratification of, or accession to, this Treaty of the State or intergovernmental organization making the declaration.

(c) Any declaration made under paragraphs (1) to (6) may be withdrawn at any time.

(8) [ Loss of Effect of Declaration ]

(a) Subject to subparagraph (c), any declaration made under paragraphs (1) to (5) by a State regarded as a developing country in conformity with the established practice of the General Assembly of the United Nations, or by an intergovernmental organization each member of which is such a State, shall lose its effect at the end of a period of eight years from the date of entry into force of this Treaty.

(b) Subject to subparagraph (c), any declaration made under paragraphs (1) to (5) by a State other than a State referred to in subparagraph (a), or by an intergovernmental organization other than an intergovernmental organization referred to in subparagraph (a), shall lose its effect at the end of a period of six years from the date of entry into force of this Treaty.

(c) Where a declaration made under paragraphs (1) to (5) has not been withdrawn under paragraph (7)(c), or has not lost its effect under subparagraph (a) or (b), before October 28, 2004, it shall lose its effect on October 28, 2004.

(9) [ Becoming Party to the Treaty ] Until December 31, 1999, any State which, on the date of the adoption of this Treaty, is a member of the International (Paris) Union for the Protection of Industrial Property without being a member of the Organization may, notwithstanding Article 19(1)(i), become a party to this Treaty if marks may be registered with its own Office.

 

Article 23. Denunciation of the Treaty

(1) [ Notification ] Any Contracting Party may denounce this Treaty by notification addressed to the Director General.

(2) [ Effective Date ] Denunciation shall take effect one year from the date on which the Director General has received the notification. It shall not affect the application of this Treaty to any application pending or any mark registered in respect of the denouncing Contracting Party at the time of the expiration of the said one-year period, provided that the denouncing Contracting Party may, after the expiration of the said one-year period, discontinue applying this Treaty to any registration as from the date on which that registration is due for renewal.

 

Article 24. Languages of the Treaty; Signature

(1) [ Original Texts; Official Texts ]

(a) This Treaty shall be signed in a single original in the English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish languages, all texts being equally authentic.

(b) At the request of a Contracting Party, an official text in a language not referred to in subparagraph (a) that is an official language of that Contracting Party shall be established by the Director General after consultation with the said Contracting Party and any other interested Contracting Party.

(2) [ Time Limit for Signature ] This Treaty shall remain open for signature at the headquarters of the Organization for one year after its adoption.

 

Article 25. Depositary

The Director General shall be the depositary of this Treaty.

 

() Положение об использовании в товарных знаках и знаках обслуживания государственного герба и государственного флага

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Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

(TRIPS Agreement)

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

 

Members,

Desiring to reduce distortions and impediments to international trade, and taking into account the need to promote effective and adequate protection of intellectual property rights, and to ensure that measures and procedures to enforce intellectual property rights do not themselves become barriers to legitimate trade;

Recognizing, to this end, the need for new rules and disciplines concerning:

(a) the applicability of the basic principles of GATT 1994 and of relevant international intellectual property agreements or conventions;

(b) the provision of adequate standards and principles concerning the availability, scope and use of trade-related intellectual property rights;

(c) the provision of effective and appropriate means for the enforcement of trade-related intellectual property rights, taking into account differences in national legal systems;

(d) the provision of effective and expeditious procedures for the multilateral prevention and settlement of disputes between governments; and

(e) transitional arrangements aiming at the fullest participation in the results of the negotiations;

Recognizing the need for a multilateral framework of principles, rules and disciplines dealing with international trade in counterfeit goods;

Recognizing that intellectual property rights are private rights;

Recognizing the underlying public policy objectives of national systems for the protection of intellectual property, including developmental and technological objectives;

Recognizing also the special needs of the least-developed country
Members in respect of maximum flexibility in the domestic implementation of laws and regulations in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base;

Emphasizing the importance of reducing tensions by reaching strengthened commitments to resolve disputes on trade-related intellectual property issues through multilateral procedures;

Desiring to establish a mutually supportive relationship between the WTO and the World Intellectual Property Organization (referred to in this Agreement as “WIPO”) as well as other relevant international organizations;

Hereby agree as follows:

 

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND BASIC PRINCIPLES

Article 1. Nature and Scope of Obligations

1. Members shall give effect to the provisions of this Agreement. Members may, but shall not be obliged to, implement in their law more extensive protection than is required by this Agreement, provided that such protection does not contravene the provisions of this Agreement. Members shall be free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of this Agreement within their own legal system and practice.

2. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term “intellectual property” refers to all categories of intellectual property that are the subject of Sections 1 through
of Part II.

3. Members shall accord the treatment provided for in this Agreement to the nationals of other Members.
In respect of the relevant intellectual property right, the nationals of other Members shall be understood as those natural or legal persons that would meet the criteria for eligibility for protection provided for in the Paris Convention (1967), the Berne Convention (1971), the Rome Convention and the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits, were all Members of the WTO members of those Conventions.
Any Member availing itself of the possibilities provided in paragraph 3 of Article 5 or paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Rome Convention shall make a notification as foreseen in those provisions to the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the “Council for TRIPS”).

 

Article 2. Intellectual Property Conventions

1. In respect of Parts II, III and IV of this Agreement, Members shall comply with Articles 1 through 12, and Article 19, of the Paris Convention (1967).

2. Nothing in Parts I to IV of this Agreement shall derogate from existing obligations that Members may have to each other under the Paris Convention, the Berne Convention, the Rome Convention and the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits.

 

Article 3. National Treatment

1. Each Member shall accord to the nationals of other Members treatment no less favourable than that it accords to its own nationals with regard to the protection of intellectual property, subject to the exceptions already provided in, respectively, the Paris Convention (1967), the Berne Convention (1971), the Rome Convention or the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits. In respect of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations, this obligation only applies in respect of the rights provided under this Agreement. Any Member availing itself of the possibilities provided in Article 6 of the Berne Convention (1971) or paragraph 1(b) of Article 16 of the Rome Convention shall make a notification as foreseen in those provisions to the Council for TRIPS.

2. Members may avail themselves of the exceptions permitted under paragraph 1 in relation to judicial and administrative procedures, including the designation of an address for service or the appointment of an agent within the jurisdiction of a Member, only where such exceptions are necessary to secure compliance with laws and regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement and where such practices are not applied in a manner which would constitute a disguised restriction on trade.

 

Article 4. Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment

With regard to the protection of intellectual property, any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity granted by a Member to the nationals of any other country shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the nationals of all other Members. Exempted from this obligation are any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity accorded by a Member:

(a) deriving from international agreements on judicial assistance or law enforcement of a general nature and not particularly confined to the protection of intellectual property;

(b) granted in accordance with the provisions of the Berne Convention (1971) or the Rome Convention authorizing that the treatment accorded be a function not of national treatment but of the treatment accorded in another country;

(c) in respect of the rights of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations not provided under this Agreement;

(d) deriving from international agreements related to the protection of intellectual property which entered into force prior to the entry into force of the WTO Agreement, provided that such agreements are notified to the Council for TRIPS and do not constitute an arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination against nationals of other Members.

 

Article 5. Multilateral Agreements on Acquisition or Maintenance of Protection

The obligations under Articles 3 and 4 do not apply to procedures provided in multilateral agreements concluded under the auspices of WIPO relating to the acquisition or maintenance of intellectual property rights.

 

Article 6. Exhaustion

For the purposes of dispute settlement under this Agreement, subject to the provisions of Articles 3 and 4 nothing in this Agreement shall be used to address the issue of the exhaustion of intellectual property rights.

 

Article 7. Objectives

The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights should contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.

 

Article 8. Principles

1. Members may, in formulating or amending their laws and regulations, adopt measures necessary to protect public health and nutrition, and to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to their socio-economic and technological development, provided that such measures are consistent with the provisions of this Agreement.

2. Appropriate measures, provided that they are consistent with the provisions of this Agreement, may be needed to prevent the abuse of intellectual property rights by right holders or the resort to practices which unreasonably restrain trade or adversely affect the international transfer of technology.

 

PART II. STANDARDS CONCERNING THE AVAILABILITY, SCOPE AND USE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Section 1: Copyright and Related Rights

Article 9. Relation to the Berne Convention

1. Members shall comply with Articles 1 through 21 of the Berne Convention (1971) and the Appendix thereto. However, Members shall not have rights or obligations under this Agreement in respect of the rights conferred under Article 6bis of that Convention or of the rights derived therefrom.

2. Copyright protection shall extend to expressions and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such.

 

Article 10. Computer Programs and Compilations of Data

1. Computer programs, whether in source or object code, shall be protected as literary works under the Berne Convention (1971).

2. Compilations of data or other material, whether in machine readable or other form, which by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents constitute intellectual creations shall be protected as such. Such protection, which shall not extend to the data or material itself, shall be without prejudice to any copyright subsisting in the data or material itself.

 

Article 11. Rental Rights

In respect of at least computer programs and cinematographic works, a Member shall provide authors and their successors in title the right to authorize or to prohibit the commercial rental to the public of originals or copies of their copyright works. A Member shall be excepted from this obligation in respect of cinematographic works unless such rental has led to widespread copying of such works which is materially impairing the exclusive right of reproduction conferred in that Member on authors and their successors in title. In respect of computer programs, this obligation does not apply to rentals where the program itself is not the essential object of the rental.

 

Article 12. Term of Protection

Whenever the term of protection of a work, other than a photographic work or a work of applied art, is calculated on a basis other than the life of a natural person, such term shall be no less than 50 years from the end of the calendar year of authorized publication, or, failing such authorized publication within 50 years from the making of the work, 50 years from the end of the calendar year of making.

 

Article 13. Limitations and Exceptions

Members shall confine limitations or exceptions to exclusive rights to certain special cases which do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the right holder.

 

Article 14. Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms (Sound Recordings) and Broadcasting Organizations

1. In respect of a fixation of their performance on a phonogram, performers shall have the possibility of preventing the following acts when undertaken without their authorization: the fixation of their unfixed performance and the reproduction of such fixation. Performers shall also have the possibility of preventing the following acts when undertaken without their authorization: the broadcasting by wireless means and the communication to the public of their live performance.

2. Producers of phonograms shall enjoy the right to authorize or prohibit the direct or indirect reproduction of their phonograms.

3. Broadcasting organizations shall have the right to prohibit the following acts when undertaken without their authorization: the fixation, the reproduction of fixations, and the rebroadcasting by wireless means of broadcasts, as well as the communication to the public of television broadcasts of the same. Where Members do not grant such rights to broadcasting organizations, they shall provide owners of copyright in the subject matter of broadcasts with the possibility of preventing the above acts, subject to the provisions of the Berne Convention (1971).

4. The provisions of Article 11 in respect of computer programs shall apply mutatis mutandis to producers of phonograms and any other right holders in phonograms as determined in a Member’s law. If on 15 April 1994 a Member has in force a system of equitable remuneration of right holders in respect of the rental of phonograms, it may maintain such system provided that the commercial rental of phonograms is not giving rise to the material impairment of the exclusive rights of reproduction of right holders.

5. The term of the protection available under this Agreement to performers and producers of phonograms shall last at least until the end of a period of 50 years computed from the end of the calendar year in which the fixation was made or the performance took place. The term of protection granted pursuant to paragraph 3 shall last for at least 20 years from the end of the calendar year in which the broadcast took place.

6. Any Member may, in relation to the rights conferred under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, provide for conditions, limitations, exceptions and reservations to the extent permitted by the Rome Convention. However, the provisions of Article 18 of the Berne Convention (1971) shall also apply, mutatis mutandis, to the rights of performers and producers of phonograms in phonograms.

 

Section 2: Trademarks

Article 15. Protectable Subject Matter

1. Any sign, or any combination of signs, capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings, shall be capable of constituting a trademark. Such signs, in particular words including personal names, letters, numerals, figurative elements and combinations of colours as well as any combination of such signs, shall be eligible for registration as trademarks. Where signs are not inherently capable of distinguishing the relevant goods or services, Members may make registrability depend on distinctiveness acquired through use. Members may require, as a condition of registration, that signs be visually perceptible.

2. Paragraph 1 shall not be understood to prevent a Member from denying registration of a trademark on other grounds, provided that they do not derogate from the provisions of the Paris Convention (1967).

3. Members may make registrability depend on use. However, actual use of a trademark shall not be a condition for filing an application for registration. An application shall not be refused solely on the ground that intended use has not taken place before the expiry of a period of three years from the date of application.

4. The nature of the goods or services to which a trademark is to be applied shall in no case form an obstacle to registration of the trademark.

5. Members shall publish each trademark either before it is registered or promptly after it is registered and shall afford a reasonable opportunity for petitions to cancel the registration. In addition, Members may afford an opportunity for the registration of a trademark to be opposed.

 

Article 16. Rights Conferred

1. The owner of a registered trademark shall have the exclusive right to prevent all third parties not having the owner’s consent from using in the course of trade identical or similar signs for goods or services which are identical or similar to those in respect of which the trademark is registered where such use would result in a likelihood of confusion. In case of the use of an identical sign for identical goods or services, a likelihood of confusion shall be presumed. The rights described above shall not prejudice any existing prior rights, nor shall they affect the possibility of Members making rights available on the basis of use.

2. Article 6bis of the Paris Convention (1967) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to services. In determining whether a trademark is well-known, Members shall take account of the knowledge of the trademark in the relevant sector of the public, including knowledge in the Member concerned which has been obtained as a result of the promotion of the trademark.

3. Article 6bis of the Paris Convention (1967) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to goods or services which are not similar to those in respect of which a trademark is registered, provided that use of that trademark in relation to those goods or services would indicate a connection between those goods or services and the owner of the registered trademark and provided that the interests of the owner of the registered trademark are likely to be damaged by such use.

 

Article 17. Exceptions

Members may provide limited exceptions to the rights conferred by a trademark, such as fair use of descriptive terms, provided that such exceptions take account of the legitimate interests of the owner of the trademark and of third parties.

 

Article 18. Term of Protection

Initial registration, and each renewal of registration, of a trademark shall be for a term of no less than seven years. The registration of a trademark shall be renewable indefinitely.

 

Article 19. Requirement of Use

1. If use is required to maintain a registration, the registration may be cancelled only after an uninterrupted period of at least three years of non-use, unless valid reasons based on the existence of obstacles to such use are shown by the trademark owner. Circumstances arising independently of the will of the owner of the trademark which constitute an obstacle to the use of the trademark, such as import restrictions on or other government requirements for goods or services protected by the trademark, shall be recognized as valid reasons for non-use.

2. When subject to the control of its owner, use of a trademark by another person shall be recognized as use of the trademark for the purpose of maintaining the registration.

 

Article 20. Other Requirements

The use of a trademark in the course of trade shall not be unjustifiably encumbered by special requirements, such as use with another trademark, use in a special form or use in a manner detrimental to its capability to distinguish the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings. This will not preclude a requirement prescribing the use of the trademark identifying the undertaking producing the goods or services along with, but without linking it to, the trademark distinguishing the specific goods or services in question of that undertaking.

 

Article 21. Licensing and Assignment

Members may determine conditions on the licensing and assignment of trademarks, it being understood that the compulsory licensing of trademarks shall not be permitted and that the owner of a registered trademark shall have the right to assign the trademark with or without the transfer of the business to which the trademark belongs.

 

Section 3: Geographical Indications

 

Article 22. Protection of Geographical Indications

1. Geographical indications are, for the purposes of this Agreement, indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.

2. In respect of geographical indications, Members shall provide the legal means for interested parties to prevent:

(a) the use of any means in the designation or presentation of a good that indicates or suggests that the good in question originates in a geographical area other than the true place of origin in a manner which misleads the public as to the geographical origin of the good;

(b) any use which constitutes an act of unfair competition within the meaning of Article 10bis of the Paris Convention (1967).

3. A Member shall, ex officio if its legislation so permits or at the request of an interested party, refuse or invalidate the registration of a trademark which contains or consists of a geographical indication with respect to goods not originating in the territory indicated, if use of the indication in the trademark for such goods in that Member is of such a nature as to mislead the public as to the true place of origin.

4. The protection under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be applicable against a geographical indication which, although literally true as to the territory, region or locality in which the goods originate, falsely represents to the public that the goods originate in another territory.

 

Article 23. Additional Protection for Geographical Indications for Wines and Spirits

1. Each Member shall provide the legal means for interested parties to prevent use of a geographical indication identifying wines for wines not originating in the place indicated by the geographical indication in question or identifying spirits for spirits not originating in the place indicated by the geographical indication in question, even where the true origin of the goods is indicated or the geographical indication is used in translation or accompanied by expressions such as “kind”, “type”, “style”, “imitation” or the like.

2. The registration of a trademark for wines which contains or consists of a geographical indication identifying wines or for spirits which contains or consists of a geographical indication identifying spirits shall be refused or invalidated, ex officio if a Member’s legislation so permits or at the request of an interested party, with respect to such wines or spirits not having this origin.

3. In the case of homonymous geographical indications for wines, protection shall be accorded to each indication, subject to the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 22. Each Member shall determine the practical conditions under which the homonymous indications in question will be differentiated from each other, taking into account the need to ensure equitable treatment of the producers concerned and that consumers are not misled.

4. In order to facilitate the protection of geographical indications for wines, negotiations shall be undertaken in the Council for TRIPS concerning the establishment of a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications for wines eligible for protection in those Members participating in the system.

 

Article 24. International Negotiations; Exceptions

1. Members agree to enter into negotiations aimed at increasing the protection of individual geographical indications under Article 23. The provisions of paragraphs 4 through  8 below shall not be used by a Member to refuse to conduct negotiations or to conclude bilateral or multilateral agreements. In the context of such negotiations, Members shall be willing to consider the continued applicability of these provisions to individual geographical indications whose use was the subject of such negotiations.

2. The Council for TRIPS shall keep under review the application of the provisions of this Section; the first such review shall take place within two years of the entry into force of the WTO Agreement. Any matter affecting the compliance with the obligations under these provisions may be drawn to the attention of the Council, which, at the request of a Member, shall consult with any Member or Members in respect of such matter in respect of which it has not been possible to find a satisfactory solution through bilateral or plurilateral consultations between the Members concerned. The Council shall take such action as may be agreed to facilitate the operation and further the objectives of this Section.

3. In implementing this Section, a Member shall not diminish the protection of geographical indications that existed in that Member immediately prior to the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.

4. Nothing in this Section shall require a Member to prevent continued and similar use of a particular geographical indication of another Member identifying wines or spirits in connection with goods or services by any of its nationals or domiciliaries who have used that geographical indication in a continuous manner with regard to the same or related goods or services in the territory of that Member either (a) for at least 10 years preceding 15 April 1994 or (b) in good faith preceding that date.

5. Where a trademark has been applied for or registered in good faith, or where rights to a trademark have been acquired through use in good faith either:

(a) before the date of application of these provisions in that Member as defined in Part  VI; or

(b) before the geographical indication is protected in its country of origin;

measures adopted to implement this Section shall not prejudice eligibility for or the validity of the registration of a trademark, or the right to use a trademark, on the basis that such a trademark is identical with, or similar to, a geographical indication.

6. Nothing in this Section shall require a Member to apply its provisions in respect of a geographical indication of any other Member with respect to goods or services for which the relevant indication is identical with the term customary in common language as the common name for such goods or services in the territory of that Member. Nothing in this Section shall require a Member to apply its provisions in respect of a geographical indication of any other Member with respect to products of the vine for which the relevant indication is identical with the customary name of a grape variety existing in the territory of that Member as of the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.

7. A Member may provide that any request made under this Section in connection with the use or registration of a trademark must be presented within five years after the adverse use of the protected indication has become generally known in that Member or after the date of registration of the trademark in that Member provided that the trademark has been published by that date, if such date is earlier than the date on which the adverse use became generally known in that Member, provided that the geographical indication is not used or registered in bad faith.

8. The provisions of this Section shall in no way prejudice the right of any person to use, in the course of trade, that person’s name or the name of that person’s predecessor in business, except where such name is used in such a manner as to mislead the public.

9. There shall be no obligation under this Agreement to protect geographical indications which are not or cease to be protected in their country of origin, or which have fallen into disuse in that country.

 

Section 4: Industrial Designs

 

Article 25. Requirements for Protection

1. Members shall provide for the protection of independently created industrial designs that are new or original. Members may provide that designs are not new or original if they do not significantly differ from known designs or combinations of known design features. Members may provide that such protection shall not extend to designs dictated essentially by technical or functional considerations.

2. Each Member shall ensure that requirements for securing protection for textile designs, in particular in regard to any cost, examination or publication, do not unreasonably impair the opportunity to seek and obtain such protection. Members shall be free to meet this obligation through industrial design law or through copyright law.

 

Article 26. Protection

1. The owner of a protected industrial design shall have the right to prevent third parties not having the owner’s consent from making, selling or importing articles bearing or embodying a design which is a copy, or substantially a copy, of the protected design, when such acts are undertaken for commercial purposes.

2. Members may provide limited exceptions to the protection of industrial designs, provided that such exceptions do not unreasonably conflict with the normal exploitation of protected industrial designs and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the owner of the protected design, taking account of the legitimate interests of third parties.

3. The duration of protection available shall amount to at least 10 years.

 

Section 5: Patents

 

Article 27. Patentable Subject Matter

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3, patents shall be available for any inventions, whether products or processes, in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application. Subject to paragraph 4 of Article 65, paragraph 8 of Article 70 and paragraph 3 of this Article, patents shall be available and patent rights enjoyable without discrimination as to the place of invention, the field of technology and whether products are imported or locally produced.

2. Members may exclude from patentability inventions, the prevention within their territory of the commercial exploitation of which is necessary to protect ordre public or morality, including to protect human, animal or plant life or health or to avoid serious prejudice to the environment, provided that such exclusion is not made merely because the exploitation is prohibited by their law.

3. Members may also exclude from patentability:

(a) diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals;

(b) plants and animals other than micro-organisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes. However, Members shall provide for the protection of plant varieties either by patents or by an effective sui generis system or by any combination thereof. The provisions of this subparagraph shall be reviewed four years after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.

 

Article 28. Rights Conferred

1. A patent shall confer on its owner the following exclusive rights:

(a) where the subject matter of a patent is a product, to prevent third parties not having the owner’s consent from the acts of: making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing or these purposes that product;

(b) where the subject matter of a patent is a process, to prevent third parties not having the owner’s consent from the act of using the process, and from the acts of: using, offering for sale, selling, or importing for these purposes at least the product obtained directly by that process.

2. Patent owners shall also have the right to assign, or transfer by succession, the patent and to conclude licensing contracts.

 

Article 29 Conditions on Patent Applicants

1. Members shall require that an applicant for a patent shall disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for the invention to be carried out by a person skilled in the art and may require the applicant to indicate the best mode for carrying out the invention known to the inventor at the filing date or, where priority is claimed, at the priority date of the application.

2. Members may require an applicant for a patent to provide information concerning the applicant’s corresponding foreign applications and grants.

 

Article 30. Exceptions to Rights Conferred

Members may provide limited exceptions to the exclusive rights conferred by a patent, provided that such exceptions do not unreasonably conflict with a normal exploitation of the patent and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the patent owner, taking account of the legitimate interests of third parties.

 

Article 31. Other Use Without Authorization of the Right Holder

Where the law of a Member allows for other use of the subject matter of a patent without the authorization of the right holder, including use by the government or third parties authorized by the government, the following provisions shall be respected:

(a) authorization of such use shall be considered on its individual merits;

(b) such use may only be permitted if, prior to such use, the proposed user has made efforts to obtain authorization from the right holder on reasonable commercial terms and conditions and that such efforts have not been successful within a reasonable period of time. This requirement may be waived by a Member in the case of a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency or in cases of public non-commercial use. In situations of national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency, the right holder shall, nevertheless, be notified as soon as reasonably practicable. In the case of public non-commercial use, where the government or contractor, without making a patent search, knows or has demonstrable grounds to know that a valid patent is or will be used by or for the government, the right holder shall be informed promptly;

(c) the scope and duration of such use shall be limited to the purpose for which it was authorized, and in the case of semi-conductor technology shall only be for public non-commercial use or to remedy a practice determined after judicial or administrative process to be anti-competitive;

(d) such use shall be non-exclusive;

(e) such use shall be non-assignable, except with that part of the enterprise or goodwill which enjoys such use;

(f) any such use shall be authorized predominantly for the supply of the domestic market of the Member authorizing such use;

(g) authorization for such use shall be liable, subject to adequate protection of the legitimate interests of the persons so authorized, to be terminated if and when the circumstances which led to it cease to exist and are unlikely to recur. The competent authority shall have the authority to review, upon motivated request, the continued existence of these circumstances;

(h) the right holder shall be paid adequate remuneration in the circumstances of each case, taking into account the economic value of the authorization;

(i) the legal validity of any decision relating to the authorization of such use shall be subject to judicial review or other independent review by a distinct higher authority in that Member;

(j) any decision relating to the remuneration provided in respect of such use shall be subject to judicial review or other independent review by a distinct higher authority in that Member;

(k) Members are not obliged to apply the conditions set forth in subparagraphs (b) and (f) where such use is permitted to remedy a practice determined after judicial or administrative process to be anti-competitive. The need to correct anti-competitive practices may be taken into account in determining the amount of remuneration in such cases. Competent authorities shall have the authority to refuse termination of authorization if and when the conditions which led to such authorization are likely to recur;

(l) where such use is authorized to permit the exploitation of a patent (“the second patent”) which cannot be exploited without infringing another patent (“the first patent”), the following additional conditions shall apply:

(i) the invention claimed in the second patent shall involve an important technical advance of considerable economic significance in relation to the invention claimed in the first patent;

(ii) the owner of the first patent shall be entitled to a cross-licence on reasonable terms to use the invention claimed in the second patent; and

(iii) the use authorized in respect of the first patent shall be non-assignable except with the assignment of the second patent.

 

Article 32. Revocation/Forfeiture

An opportunity for judicial review of any decision to revoke or forfeit a patent shall be available.

 

Article 33. Term of Protection

The term of protection available shall not end before the expiration of a period of twenty years counted from the filing date.

 

Article 34. Process Patents: Burden of Proof

1. For the purposes of civil proceedings in respect of the infringement of the rights of the owner referred to in paragraph 1(b) of Article 28, if the subject matter of a patent is a process for obtaining a product, the judicial authorities shall have the authority to order the defendant to prove that the process to obtain an identical product is different from the patented process. Therefore, Members shall provide, in at least one of the following circumstances, that any identical product when produced without the consent of the patent owner shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to have been obtained by the patented process:

(a) if the product obtained by the patented process is new;

(b) if there is a substantial likelihood that the identical product was made by the process and the owner of the patent has been unable through reasonable efforts to determine the process actually used.

2. Any Member shall be free to provide that the burden of proof indicated in paragraph 1 shall be on the alleged infringer only if the condition referred to in subparagraph (a) is fulfilled or only if the condition referred to in subparagraph (b) is fulfilled.

3. In the adduction of proof to the contrary, the legitimate interests of defendants in protecting their manufacturing and business secrets shall be taken into account.

 

Section 6: Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits

 

Article 35. Relation to the IPIC Treaty

Members agree to provide protection to the layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits (referred to in this Agreement as “layout-designs”) in accordance with Articles 2 through (other than paragraph 3 of Article 6), Article 12 and paragraph 3 of Article 16 of the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits and, in addition, to comply with the following provisions.

 

Article 36. Scope of the Protection

Subject to the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 37, Members shall consider unlawful the following acts if performed without the authorization of the right holder  importing, selling, or otherwise distributing for commercial purposes a protected layout-design, an integrated circuit in which a protected layout-design is incorporated, or an article incorporating such an integrated circuit only in so far as it continues to contain an unlawfully reproduced layout-design.

 

Article 37. Acts Not Requiring the Authorization of the Right Holder

1. Notwithstanding Article 36, no Member shall consider unlawful the performance of any of the acts referred to in that Article in respect of an integrated circuit incorporating an unlawfully reproduced layout-design or any article incorporating such an integrated circuit where the person performing or ordering such acts did not know and had no reasonable ground to know, when acquiring the integrated circuit or article incorporating such an integrated circuit, that it incorporated an unlawfully reproduced layout-design. Members shall provide that, after the time that such person has received sufficient notice that the layout-design was unlawfully reproduced, that person may perform any of the acts with respect to the stock on hand or ordered before such time, but shall be liable to pay to the right holder a sum equivalent to a reasonable royalty such as would be payable under a freely negotiated licence in respect of such a layout-design.

2. The conditions set out in subparagraphs (a) through (k) of Article 31 shall apply mutatis mutandis in the event of any non-voluntary licensing of a layout-design or of its use by or for the government without the authorization of the right holder.

 

Article 38. Term of Protection

1. In Members requiring registration as a condition of protection, the term of protection of layout-designs shall not end before the expiration of a period of 10 years counted from the date of filing an application for registration or from the first commercial exploitation wherever in the world it occurs.

2. In Members not requiring registration as a condition for protection, layout-designs shall be protected for a term of no less than 10 years from the date of the first commercial exploitation wherever in the world it occurs.

3. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2, a Member may provide that protection shall lapse 15 years after the creation of the layout-design.

 

Section 7: Protection of Undisclosed Information

 

Article 39

1. In the course of ensuring effective protection against unfair competition as provided in Article 10bis of the Paris Convention (1967), Members shall protect undisclosed information in accordance with paragraph 2 and data submitted to governments or governmental agencies in accordance with paragraph 3.

2. Natural and legal persons shall have the possibility of preventing information lawfully within their control from being disclosed to, acquired by, or used by others without their consent in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices so long as such information:

(a) is secret in the sense that it is not, as a body or in the precise configuration and assembly of its components, generally known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question;

(b) has commercial value because it is secret; and

(c) has been subject to reasonable steps under the circumstances, by the person lawfully in control of the information, to keep it secret.

3. Members, when requiring, as a condition of approving the marketing of pharmaceutical or of agricultural chemical products which utilize new chemical entities, the submission of undisclosed test or other data, the origination of which involves a considerable effort, shall protect such data against unfair commercial use. In addition, Members shall protect such data against disclosure, except where necessary to protect the public, or unless steps are taken to ensure that the data are protected against unfair commercial use.

 

Section 8: Control of Anti-Competitive Practices in Contractual Licences

 

Article 40

1. Members agree that some licensing practices or conditions pertaining to intellectual property rights which restrain competition may have adverse effects on trade and may impede the transfer and dissemination of technology.

2. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent Members from specifying in their legislation licensing practices or conditions that may in particular cases constitute an abuse of intellectual property rights having an adverse effect on competition in the relevant market. As provided above, a Member may adopt, consistently with the other provisions of this Agreement, appropriate measures to prevent or control such practices, which may include for example exclusive grantback conditions, conditions preventing challenges to validity and coercive package licensing, in the light of the relevant laws and regulations of that Member.

3. Each Member shall enter, upon request, into consultations with any other Member which has cause to believe that an intellectual property right owner that is a national or domiciliary of the Member to which the request for consultations has been addressed is undertaking practices in violation of the requesting Member’s laws and regulations on the subject matter of this Section, and which wishes to secure compliance with such legislation, without prejudice to any action under the law and to the full freedom of an ultimate decision of either Member. The Member addressed shall accord full and sympathetic consideration to, and shall afford adequate opportunity for, consultations with the requesting Member, and shall cooperate through supply of publicly available non-confidential information of relevance to the matter in question and of other information available to the Member, subject to domestic law and to the conclusion of mutually satisfactory agreements concerning the safeguarding of its confidentiality by the requesting Member.

4. A Member whose nationals or domiciliaries are subject to proceedings in another Member concerning alleged violation of that other Member’s laws and regulations on the subject matter of this Section shall, upon request, be granted an opportunity for consultations by the other Member under the same conditions as those foreseen in paragraph 3.

 

PART III. ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Section 1: General Obligations


Article 41

1. Members shall ensure that enforcement procedures as specified in this Part are available under their law so as to permit effective action against any act of infringement of intellectual property rights covered by this Agreement, including expeditious remedies to prevent infringements and remedies which constitute a deterrent to further infringements. These procedures shall be applied in such a manner as to avoid the creation of barriers to legitimate trade and to provide for safeguards against their abuse.

2. Procedures concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights shall be fair and equitable. They shall not be unnecessarily complicated or costly, or entail unreasonable time-limits or unwarranted delays.

3. Decisions on the merits of a case shall preferably be in writing and reasoned. They shall be made available at least to the parties to the proceeding without undue delay. Decisions on the merits of a case shall be based only on evidence in respect of which parties were offered the opportunity to be heard.

4. Parties to a proceeding shall have an opportunity for review by a judicial authority of final administrative decisions and, subject to jurisdictional provisions in a Member’s law concerning the importance of a case, of at least the legal aspects of initial judicial decisions on the merits of a case. However, there shall be no obligation to provide an opportunity for review of acquittals in criminal cases.

5. It is understood that this Part does not create any obligation to put in place a judicial system for the enforcement of intellectual property rights distinct from that for the enforcement of law in general, nor does it affect the capacity of Members to enforce their law in general. Nothing in this Part creates any obligation with respect to the distribution of resources as between enforcement of intellectual property rights and the enforcement of law in general.

 

Section 2: Civil and Administrative Procedures and Remedies

 

Article 42. Fair and Equitable Procedures

Members shall make available to right holders civil judicial procedures concerning the enforcement of any intellectual property right covered by this Agreement. Defendants shall have the right to written notice which is timely and contains sufficient detail, including the basis of the claims. Parties shall be allowed to be represented by independent legal counsel, and procedures shall not impose overly burdensome requirements concerning mandatory personal appearances. All parties to such procedures shall be duly entitled to substantiate their claims and to present all relevant evidence. The procedure shall provide a means to identify and protect confidential information, unless this would be contrary to existing constitutional requirements.

 

Article 43. Evidence

1. The judicial authorities shall have the authority, where a party has presented reasonably available evidence sufficient to support its claims and has specified evidence relevant to substantiation of its claims which lies in the control of the opposing party, to order that this evidence be produced by the opposing party, subject in appropriate cases to conditions which ensure the protection of confidential information.

2. In cases in which a party to a proceeding voluntarily and without good reason refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide necessary information within a reasonable period, or significantly impedes a procedure relating to an enforcement action, a Member may accord judicial authorities the authority to make preliminary and final determinations, affirmative or negative, on the basis of the information presented to them, including the complaint or the allegation presented by the party adversely affected by the denial of access to information, subject to providing the parties an opportunity to be heard on the allegations or evidence.

 

Article 44. Injunctions

1. The judicial authorities shall have the authority to order a party to desist from an infringement, inter alia to prevent the entry into the channels of commerce in their jurisdiction of imported goods that involve the infringement of an intellectual property right, immediately after customs clearance of such goods. Members are not obliged to accord such authority in respect of protected subject matter acquired or ordered by a person prior to knowing or having reasonable grounds to know that dealing in such subject matter would entail the infringement of an intellectual property right.

2. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Part and provided that the provisions of Part II specifically addressing use by governments, or by third parties authorized by a government, without the authorization of the right holder are complied with, Members may limit the remedies available against such use to payment of remuneration in accordance with subparagraph (h) of Article 31. In other cases, the remedies under this Part shall apply or, where these remedies are inconsistent with a Member’s law, declaratory judgments and adequate compensation shall be available.

 

Article 45. Damages

1. The judicial authorities shall have the authority to order the infringer to pay the right holder damages adequate to compensate for the injury the right holder has suffered because of an infringement of that person’s intellectual property right by an infringer who knowingly, or with reasonable grounds to know, engaged in infringing activity.

2. The judicial authorities shall also have the authority to order the infringer to pay the right holder expenses, which may include appropriate attorney’s fees. In appropriate cases, Members may authorize the judicial authorities to order recovery of profits and/or payment of pre-established damages even where the infringer did not knowingly, or with reasonable grounds to know, engage in infringing activity.

 

Article 46. Other Remedies

In order to create an effective deterrent to infringement, the judicial authorities shall have the authority to order that goods that they have found to be infringing be, without compensation of any sort, disposed of outside the channels of commerce in such a manner as to avoid any harm caused to the right holder, or, unless this would be contrary to existing constitutional requirements, destroyed. The judicial authorities shall also have the authority to order that materials and implements the predominant use of which has been in the creation of the infringing goods be, without compensation of any sort, disposed of outside the channels of commerce in such a manner as to minimize the risks of further infringements. In considering such requests, the need for proportionality between the seriousness of the infringement and the remedies ordered as well as the interests of third parties shall be taken into account. In regard to counterfeit trademark goods, the simple removal of the trademark unlawfully affixed shall not be sufficient, other than in exceptional cases, to permit release of the goods into the channels of commerce.

 

Article 47. Right of Information

Members may provide that the judicial authorities shall have the authority, unless this would be out of proportion to the seriousness of the infringement, to order the infringer to inform the right holder of the identity of third persons involved in the production and distribution of the infringing goods or services and of their channels of distribution.

 

Article 48. Indemnification of the Defendant

1. The judicial authorities shall have the authority to order a party at whose request measures were taken and who has abused enforcement procedures to provide to a party wrongfully enjoined or restrained adequate compensation for the injury suffered because of such abuse. The judicial authorities shall also have the authority to order the applicant to pay the defendant expenses, which may include appropriate attorney’s fees.

2. In respect of the administration of any law pertaining to the protection or enforcement of intellectual property rights, Members shall only exempt both public authorities and officials from liability to appropriate remedial measures where actions are taken or intended in good faith in the course of the administration of that law.

 

Article 49. Administrative Procedures

To the extent that any civil remedy can be ordered as a result of administrative procedures on the merits of a case, such procedures shall conform to principles equivalent in substance to those set forth in this Section.

 

Section 3: Provisional Measures

 

Article 50

1. The judicial authorities shall have the authority to order prompt and effective provisional measures:

(a) to prevent an infringement of any intellectual property right from occurring, and in particular to prevent the entry into the channels of commerce in their jurisdiction of goods, including imported goods immediately after customs clearance;

(b) to preserve relevant evidence in regard to the alleged infringement.

2. The judicial authorities shall have the authority to adopt provisional measures inaudita altera parte where appropriate, in particular where any delay is likely to cause irreparable harm to the right holder, or where there is a demonstrable risk of evidence being destroyed.

3. The judicial authorities shall have the authority to require the applicant to provide any reasonably available evidence in order to satisfy themselves with a sufficient degree of certainty that the applicant is the right holder and that the applicant’s right is being infringed or that such infringement is imminent, and to order the applicant to provide a security or equivalent assurance sufficient to protect the defendant and to prevent abuse.

4. Where provisional measures have been adopted inaudita altera parte, the parties affected shall be given notice, without delay after the execution of the measures at the latest. A review, including a right to be heard, shall take place upon request of the defendant with a view to deciding, within a reasonable period after the notification of the measures, whether these measures shall be modified, revoked or confirmed.

5. The applicant may be required to supply other information necessary for the identification of the goods concerned by the authority that will execute the provisional measures.

6. Without prejudice to paragraph 4, provisional measures taken on the basis of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall, upon request by the defendant, be revoked or otherwise cease to have effect, if proceedings leading to a decision on the merits of the case are not initiated within a reasonable period, to be determined by the judicial authority ordering the measures where a Member’s law so permits or, in the absence of such a determination, not to exceed 20 working days or 31 calendar days, whichever is the longer.

7. Where the provisional measures are revoked or where they lapse due to any act or omission by the applicant, or where it is subsequently found that there has been no infringement or threat of infringement of an intellectual property right, the judicial authorities shall have the authority to order the applicant, upon request of the defendant, to provide the defendant appropriate compensation for any injury caused by these measures.

8. To the extent that any provisional measure can be ordered as a result of administrative procedures, such procedures shall conform to principles equivalent in substance to those set forth in this Section.

 

Section 4: Special Requirements Related to Border Measures

 

Article 51 Suspension of Release by Customs Authorities

Members shall, in conformity with the provisions set out below, adopt procedures  to enable a right holder, who has valid grounds for suspecting that the importation of counterfeit trademark or pirated copyright goods may take place, to lodge an application in writing with competent authorities, administrative or judicial, for the suspension by the customs authorities of the release into free circulation of such goods. Members may enable such an application to be made in respect of goods which involve other infringements of intellectual property rights, provided that the requirements of this Section are met. Members may also provide for corresponding procedures concerning the suspension by the customs authorities of the release of infringing goods destined for exportation from their territories.

 

Article 52. Application

Any right holder initiating the procedures under Article 51 shall be required to provide adequate evidence to satisfy the competent authorities that, under the laws of the country of importation, there is prima facie an infringement of the right holder’s intellectual property right and to supply a sufficiently detailed description of the goods to make them readily recognizable by the customs authorities. The competent authorities shall inform the applicant within a reasonable period whether they have accepted the application and, where determined by the competent authorities, the period for which the customs authorities will take action.

 

Article 53. Security or Equivalent Assurance

1. The competent authorities shall have the authority to require an applicant to provide a security or equivalent assurance sufficient to protect the defendant and the competent authorities and to prevent abuse. Such security or equivalent assurance shall not unreasonably deter recourse to these procedures.

2. Where pursuant to an application under this Section the release of goods involving industrial designs, patents, layout-designs or undisclosed information into free circulation has been suspended by customs authorities on the basis of a decision other than by a judicial or other independent authority, and the period provided for in Article 55 has expired without the granting of provisional relief by the duly empowered authority, and provided that all other conditions for importation have been complied with, the owner, importer, or consignee of such goods shall be entitled to their release on the posting of a security in an amount sufficient to protect the right holder for any infringement. Payment of such security shall not prejudice any other remedy available to the right holder, it being understood that the security shall be released if the right holder fails to pursue the right of action within a reasonable period of time.

 

Article 54. Notice of Suspension

The importer and the applicant shall be promptly notified of the suspension of the release of goods according to Article 51.

 

Article 55. Duration of Suspension

If, within a period not exceeding 10 working days after the applicant has been served notice of the suspension, the customs authorities have not been informed that proceedings leading to a decision on the merits of the case have been initiated by a party other than the defendant, or that the duly empowered authority has taken provisional measures prolonging the suspension of the release of the goods, the goods shall be released, provided that all other conditions for importation or exportation have been complied with; in appropriate cases, this time-limit may be extended by another 10 working days. If proceedings leading to a decision on the merits of the case have been initiated, a review, including a right to be heard, shall take place upon request of the defendant with a view to deciding, within a reasonable period, whether these measures shall be modified, revoked or confirmed. Notwithstanding the above, where the suspension of the release of goods is carried out or continued in accordance with a provisional judicial measure, the provisions of paragraph 6 of Article 50 shall apply.

 

Article 56. Indemnification of the Importer and of the Owner of the Goods

Relevant authorities shall have the authority to order the applicant to pay the importer, the consignee and the owner of the goods appropriate compensation for any injury caused to them through the wrongful detention of goods or through the detention of goods released pursuant to Article 55.

 

Article 57. Right of Inspection and Information

Without prejudice to the protection of confidential information, Members shall provide the competent authorities the authority to give the right holder sufficient opportunity to have any goods detained by the customs authorities inspected in order to substantiate the right holder’s claims. The competent authorities shall also have authority to give the importer an equivalent opportunity to have any such goods inspected. Where a positive determination has been made on the merits of a case, Members may provide the competent authorities the authority to inform the right holder of the names and addresses of the consignor, the importer and the consignee and of the quantity of the goods in question.

 

Article 58. Ex Officio Action

Where Members require competent authorities to act upon their own initiative and to suspend the release of goods in respect of which they have acquired prima facie evidence that an intellectual property right is being infringed:

(a) the competent authorities may at any time seek from the right holder any information that may assist them to exercise these powers;

(b) the importer and the right holder shall be promptly notified of the suspension. Where the importer has lodged an appeal against the suspension with the competent authorities, the suspension shall be subject to the conditions, mutatis mutandis, set out at Article 55;

(c) Members shall only exempt both public authorities and officials from liability to appropriate remedial measures where actions are taken or intended in good faith.

 

Article 59. Remedies

Without prejudice to other rights of action open to the right holder and subject to the right of the defendant to seek review by a judicial authority, competent authorities shall have the authority to order the destruction or disposal of infringing goods in accordance with the principles set out in Article 46. In regard to counterfeit trademark goods, the authorities shall not allow the re-exportation of the infringing goods in an unaltered state or subject them to a different customs procedure, other than in exceptional circumstances.

 

Article 60. De Minimis Imports

Members may exclude from the application of the above provisions small quantities of goods of a non-commercial nature contained in travellers’ personal luggage or sent in small consignments.

 

Section 5: Criminal Procedures

Article 61

Members shall provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied at least in cases of wilful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale. Remedies available shall include imprisonment and/or monetary fines sufficient to provide a deterrent, consistently with the level of penalties applied for crimes of a corresponding gravity. In appropriate cases, remedies available shall also include the seizure, forfeiture and destruction of the infringing goods and of any materials and implements the predominant use of which has been in the commission of the offence. Members may provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied in other cases of infringement of intellectual property rights, in particular where they are committed wilfully and on a commercial scale.

PART IV. ACQUISITION AND MAINTENANCE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND RELATED INTER PARTES PROCEDURES

Article 62

1. Members may require, as a condition of the acquisition or maintenance of the intellectual property rights provided for under Sections 2 through 6 of Part II, compliance with reasonable procedures and formalities. Such procedures and formalities shall be consistent with the provisions of this Agreement.

2. Where the acquisition of an intellectual property right is subject to the right being granted or registered, Members shall ensure that the procedures for grant or registration, subject to compliance with the substantive conditions for acquisition of the right, permit the granting or registration of the right within a reasonable period of time so as to avoid unwarranted curtailment of the period of protection.

3. Article 4 of the Paris Convention (1967) shall apply mutatis mutandis to service marks.

4. Procedures concerning the acquisition or maintenance of intellectual property rights and, where a Member’s law provides for such procedures, administrative revocation and inter partes procedures such as opposition, revocation and cancellation, shall be governed by the general principles set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 41.

5. Final administrative decisions in any of the procedures referred to under paragraph 4 shall be subject to review by a judicial or quasi-judicial authority. However, there shall be no obligation to provide an opportunity for such review of decisions in cases of unsuccessful opposition or administrative revocation, provided that the grounds for such procedures can be the subject of invalidation procedures.

 

PART V. DISPUTE PREVENTION AND SETTLEMENT

Article 63. Transparency

1. Laws and regulations, and final judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application, made effective by a Member pertaining to the subject matter of this Agreement (the availability, scope, acquisition, enforcement and prevention of the abuse of intellectual property rights) shall be published, or where such publication is not practicable made publicly available, in a national language, in such a manner as to enable governments and right holders to become acquainted with them. Agreements concerning the subject matter of this Agreement which are in force between the government or a governmental agency of a Member and the government or a governmental agency of another Member shall also be published.

2. Members shall notify the laws and regulations referred to in paragraph 1 to the Council for TRIPS in order to assist that Council in its review of the operation of this Agreement. The Council shall attempt to minimize the burden on Members in carrying out this obligation and may decide to waive the obligation to notify such laws and regulations directly to the Council if consultations with WIPO on the establishment of a common register containing these laws and regulations are successful. The Council shall also consider in this connection any action required regarding notifications pursuant to the obligations under this Agreement stemming from the provisions of Article 6ter of the Paris Convention (1967).

3. Each Member shall be prepared to supply, in response to a written request from another Member, information of the sort referred to in paragraph 1. A Member, having reason to believe that a specific judicial decision or administrative ruling or bilateral agreement in the area of intellectual property rights affects its rights under this Agreement, may also request in writing to be given access to or be informed in sufficient detail of such specific judicial decisions or administrative rulings or bilateral agreements.

4. Nothing in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall require Members to disclose confidential information which would impede law enforcement or otherwise be contrary to the public interest or would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises, public or private.

 

Article 64. Dispute Settlement

1. The provisions of Articles XXII and XXIII of GATT 1994 as elaborated and applied by the Dispute Settlement Understanding shall apply to consultations and the settlement of disputes under this Agreement except as otherwise specifically provided herein.

2. Subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994 shall not apply to the settlement of disputes under this Agreement for a period of five years from the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.

3. During the time period referred to in paragraph 2, the Council for TRIPS shall examine the scope and modalities for complaints of the type provided for under subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994 made pursuant to this Agreement, and submit its recommendations to the Ministerial Conference for approval. Any decision of the Ministerial Conference to approve such recommendations or to extend the period in paragraph 2 shall be made only by consensus, and approved recommendations shall be effective for all Members without further formal acceptance process.

 

PART VI. TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

Article 65. Transitional Arrangements

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, no Member shall be obliged to apply the provisions of this Agreement before the expiry of a general period of one year following the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement.

2. A developing country Member is entitled to delay for a further period of four years the date of application, as defined in paragraph 1, of the provisions of this Agreement other than Articles 3, 4 and 5.

3. Any other Member which is in the process of transformation from a centrally-planned into a market, free-enterprise economy and which is undertaking structural reform of its intellectual property system and facing special problems in the preparation and implementation of intellectual property laws and regulations, may also benefit from a period of delay as foreseen in paragraph 2.

4. To the extent that a developing country Member is obliged by this Agreement to extend product patent protection to areas of technology not so protectable in its territory on the general date of application of this Agreement for that Member, as defined in paragraph 2, it may delay the application of the provisions on product patents of Section 5 of Part II to such areas of technology for an additional period of five years.

5. A Member availing itself of a transitional period under paragraphs 1, 2, 3 or 4 shall ensure that any changes in its laws, regulations and practice made during that period do not result in a lesser degree of consistency with the provisions of this Agreement.

 

Article 66. Least-Developed Country Members

1. In view of the special needs and requirements of least-developed country Members, their economic, financial and administrative constraints, and their need for flexibility to create a viable technological base, such Members shall not be required to apply the provisions of this Agreement, other than Articles 3, 4 and 5, for a period of 10 years from the date of application as defined under paragraph 1 of Article 65. The Council for TRIPS shall, upon duly motivated request by a least-developed country Member, accord extensions of this period.

2. Developed country Members shall provide incentives to enterprises and institutions in their territories for the purpose of promoting and encouraging technology transfer to least-developed country Members in order to enable them to create a sound and viable technological base.

 

Article 67. Technical Cooperation

In order to facilitate the implementation of this Agreement, developed country Members shall provide, on request and on mutually agreed terms and conditions, technical and financial cooperation in favour of developing and least-developed country Members. Such cooperation shall include assistance in the preparation of laws and regulations on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights as well as on the prevention of their abuse, and shall include support regarding the establishment or reinforcement of domestic offices and agencies relevant to these matters, including the training of personnel.

 

PART VII. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS; FINAL PROVISIONS

 

Article 68. Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

The Council for TRIPS shall monitor the operation of this Agreement and, in particular, Members’ compliance with their obligations hereunder, and shall afford Members the opportunity of consulting on matters relating to the trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. It shall carry out such other responsibilities as assigned to it by the Members, and it shall, in particular, provide any assistance requested by them in the context of dispute settlement procedures. In carrying out its functions, the Council for TRIPS may consult with and seek information from any source it deems appropriate. In consultation with WIPO, the Council shall seek to establish, within one year of its first meeting, appropriate arrangements for cooperation with bodies of that Organization.

 

Article 69. International Cooperation

Members agree to cooperate with each other with a view to eliminating international trade in goods infringing intellectual property rights. For this purpose, they shall establish and notify contact points in their administrations and be ready to exchange information on trade in infringing goods. They shall, in particular, promote the exchange of information and cooperation between customs authorities with regard to trade in counterfeit trademark goods and pirated copyright goods.

 

Article 70. Protection of Existing Subject Matter

1. This Agreement does not give rise to obligations in respect of acts which occurred before the date of application of the Agreement for the Member in question.

2. Except as otherwise provided for in this Agreement, this Agreement gives rise to obligations in respect of all subject matter existing at the date of application of this Agreement for the Member in question, and which is protected in that Member on the said date, or which meets or comes subsequently to meet the criteria for protection under the terms of this Agreement. In respect of this paragraph and paragraphs 3 and 4, copyright obligations with respect to existing works shall be solely determined under Article 18 of the Berne Convention (1971), and obligations with respect to the rights of producers of phonograms and performers in existing phonograms shall be determined solely under Article 18 of the Berne Convention (1971) as made applicable under paragraph 6 of Article 14 of this Agreement.

3. There shall be no obligation to restore protection to subject matter which on the date of application of this Agreement for the Member in question has fallen into the public domain.

4. In respect of any acts in respect of specific objects embodying protected subject matter which become infringing under the terms of legislation in conformity with this Agreement, and which were commenced, or in respect of which a significant investment was made, before the date of acceptance of the WTO Agreement by that Member, any Member may provide for a limitation of the remedies available to the right holder as to the continued performance of such acts after the date of application of this Agreement for that Member. In such cases the Member shall, however, at least provide for the payment of equitable remuneration.

5. A Member is not obliged to apply the provisions of Article 11 and of paragraph 4 of Article 14 with respect to originals or copies purchased prior to the date of application of this Agreement for that Member.

6. Members shall not be required to apply Article 31, or the requirement in paragraph 1 of Article 27 that patent rights shall be enjoyable without discrimination as to the field of technology, to use without the authorization of the right holder where authorization for such use was granted by the government before the date this Agreement became known.

7. In the case of intellectual property rights for which protection is conditional upon registration, applications for protection which are pending on the date of application of this Agreement for the Member in question shall be permitted to be amended to claim any enhanced protection provided under the provisions of this Agreement. Such amendments shall not include new matter.

8. Where a Member does not make available as of the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement patent protection for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products commensurate with its obligations under Article 27, that Member shall:

(a) notwithstanding the provisions of Part VI, provide as from the date entry into force of the WTO Agreement a means by which applications for patents for such inventions can be filed;

(b) apply to these applications, as of the date of application of this Agreement, the criteria for patentability as laid down in this Agreement as if those criteria were being applied on the date of filing in that Member or, where priority is available and claimed, the priority date of the application; and

(c) provide patent protection in accordance with this Agreement as from the grant of the patent and for the remainder of the patent term, counted from the filing date in accordance with Article 33 of this Agreement, for those of these applications that meet the criteria for protection referred to in subparagraph (b).

9. Where a product is the subject of a patent application in a Member in accordance with paragraph 8(a), exclusive marketing rights shall be granted, notwithstanding the provisions of Part VI, for a period of five years after obtaining marketing approval in that Member or until a product patent is granted or rejected in that Member, whichever period is shorter, provided that, subsequent to the entry into force of the WTO Agreement, a patent application has been filed and a patent granted for that product in another Member and marketing approval obtained in such other Member.

 

Article 71. Review and Amendment

1. The Council for TRIPS shall review the implementation of this Agreement after the expiration of the transitional period referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 65. The Council shall, having regard to the experience gained in its implementation, review it two years after that date, and at identical intervals thereafter. The Council may also undertake reviews in the light of any relevant new developments which might warrant modification or amendment of this Agreement.

2. Amendments merely serving the purpose of adjusting to higher levels of protection of intellectual property rights achieved, and in force, in other multilateral agreements and accepted under those agreements by all Members of the WTO may be referred to the Ministerial Conference for action in accordance with paragraph 6 of Article X of the WTO Agreement on the basis of a consensus proposal from the Council for TRIPS.

 

Article 72. Reservations

Reservations may not be entered in respect of any of the provisions of this Agreement without the consent of the other Members.

 

Article 73. Security Exceptions

Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed:

(a) to require a Member to furnish any information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests; or

(b) to prevent a Member from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests;

(i) relating to fissionable materials or the materials from which they are derived;

(ii) relating to the traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war and to such traffic in other goods and materials as is carried on directly or indirectly for the purpose of supplying a military establishment;

(iii) taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations; or

(c) to prevent a Member from taking any action in pursuance of its obligations under the United Nations Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Paris convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

of March 20, 1883 on September 28, 1979

 

Paris Convention

for the Protection of Industrial Property

 

Article 1. Establishment of the Union; Scope of Industrial Property*

(1) The countries to which this Convention applies constitute a Union for the protection of industrial property.

(2) The protection of industrial property has as its object patents, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, trade names, indications of source or appellations of origin, and the repression of unfair competition.

(3) Industrial property shall be understood in the broadest sense and shall apply not only to industry and commerce proper, but likewise to agricultural and extractive industries and to all manufactured or natural products, for example, wines, grain, tobacco leaf, fruit, cattle, minerals, mineral waters, beer, flowers, and flour.

(4) Patents shall include the various kinds of industrial patents recognized by the laws of the countries of the Union, such as patents of importation, patents of improvement, patents and certificates of addition, etc.

*- Articles have been given titles to facilitate their identification. There are no titles in the signed (French) text.

 

Article 2. National Treatment for Nationals of Countries of the Union

(1) Nationals of any country of the Union shall, as regards the protection of industrial property, enjoy in all the other countries of the Union the advantages that their respective laws now grant, or may hereafter grant, to nationals; all without prejudice to the rights specially provided for by this Convention. Consequently, they shall have the same protection as the latter, and the same legal remedy against any infringement of their rights, provided that the conditions and formalities imposed upon nationals are complied with.

(2) However, no requirement as to domicile or establishment in the country where protection is claimed may be imposed upon nationals of countries of the Union for the enjoyment of any industrial property rights.

(3) The provisions of the laws of each of the countries of the Union relating to judicial and administrative procedure and to jurisdiction, and to the designation of an address for service or the appointment of an agent, which may be required by the laws on industrial property are expressly reserved.

 

Article 3. Same Treatment for Certain Categories of Persons as for Nationals of Countries of the Union

Nationals of countries outside the Union who are domiciled or who have real and effective industrial or commercial establishments in the territory of one of the countries of the Union shall be treated in the same manner as nationals of the countries of the Union.

 

Article 4. A to I. Patents, Utility Models, Industrial Designs, Marks, Inventors’ Certificates: Right of Priority  – G. Patents: Division of the Application

A.

(1) Any person who has duly filed an application for a patent, or for the registration of a utility model, or of an industrial design, or of a trademark, in one of the countries of the Union, or his successor in title, shall enjoy, for the purpose of filing in the other countries, a right of priority during the periods hereinafter fixed.

(2) Any filing that is equivalent to a regular national filing under the domestic legislation of any country of the Union or under bilateral or multilateral treaties concluded between countries of the Union shall be recognized as giving rise to the right of priority.

(3) By a regular national filing is meant any filing that is adequate to establish the date on which the application was filed in the country concerned, whatever may be the subsequent fate of the application.

B.

Consequently, any subsequent filing in any of the other countries of the Union before the expiration of the periods referred to above shall not be invalidated by reason of any acts accomplished in the interval, in particular, another filing, the publication or exploitation of the invention, the putting on sale of copies of the design, or the use of the mark, and such acts cannot give rise to any third-party right or any right of personal possession. Rights acquired by third parties before the date of the first application that serves as the basis for the right of priority are reserved in accordance with the domestic legislation of each country of the Union

C.

(1) The periods of priority referred to above shall be twelve months for patents and utility models, and six months for industrial designs and trademarks.

(2) These periods shall start from the date of filing of the first application; the day of filing shall not be included in the period.

(3) If the last day of the period is an official holiday, or a day when the Office is not open for the filing of applications in the country where protection is claimed, the period shall be extended until the first following working day.

(4) A subsequent application concerning the same subject as a previous first application within the meaning of paragraph (2), above, filed in the same country of the Union shall be considered as the first application, of which the filing date shall be the starting point of the period of priority, if, at the time of filing the subsequent application, the said previous application has been withdrawn, abandoned, or refused, without having been laid open to public inspection and without leaving any rights outstanding, and if it has not yet served as a basis for claiming a right of priority. The previous application may not thereafter serve as a basis for claiming a right of priority.

D.

(1) Any person desiring to take advantage of the priority of a previous filing shall be required to make a declaration indicating the date of such filing and the country in which it was made. Each country shall determine the latest date on which such declaration must be made.

(2) These particulars shall be mentioned in the publications issued by the competent authority, and in particular in the patents and the specifications relating thereto.

(3) The countries of the Union may require any person making a declaration of priority to produce a copy of the application (description, drawings, etc.) previously filed. The copy, certified as correct by the authority which received such application, shall not require any authentication, and may in any case be filed, without fee, at any time within three months of the filing of the subsequent application. They may require it to be accompanied by a certificate from the same authority showing the date of filing, and by a translation.

(4) No other formalities may be required for the declaration of priority at the time of filing the application. Each country of the Union shall determine the consequences of failure to comply with the formalities prescribed by this Article, but such consequences shall in no case go beyond the loss of the right of priority.

(5) Subsequently, further proof may be required.

Any person who avails himself of the priority of a previous application shall be required to specify the number of that application; this number shall be published as provided for by paragraph (2), above.

E.

(1) Where an industrial design is filed in a country by virtue of a right of priority based on the filing of a utility model, the period of priority shall be the same as that fixed for industrial designs.

(2) Furthermore, it is permissible to file a utility model in a country by virtue of a right of priority based on the filing of a patent application, and vice versa.

F.

No country of the Union may refuse a priority or a patent application on the ground that the applicant claims multiple priorities, even if they originate in different countries, or on the ground that an application claiming one or more priorities contains one or more elements that were not included in the application or applications whose priority is claimed, provided that, in both cases, there is unity of invention within the meaning of the law of the country.

With respect to the elements not included in the application or applications whose priority is claimed, the filing of the subsequent application shall give rise to a right of priority under ordinary conditions.

G.

(1) If the examination reveals that an application for a patent contains more than one invention, the applicant may divide the application into a certain number of divisional applications and preserve as the date of each the date of the initial application and the benefit of the right of priority, if any.

(2) The applicant may also, on his own initiative, divide a patent application and preserve as the date of each divisional application the date of the initial application and the benefit of the right of priority, if any. Each country of the Union shall have the right to determine the conditions under which such division shall be authorized.

H.

Priority may not be refused on the ground that certain elements of the invention for which priority is claimed do not appear among the claims formulated in the application in the country of origin, provided that the application documents as a whole specifically disclose such elements.

I.

(1) Applications for inventors’ certificates filed in a country in which applicants have the right to apply at their own option either for a patent or for an inventor’s certificate shall give rise to the right of priority provided for by this Article, under the same conditions and with the same effects as applications for patents.

(2) In a country in which applicants have the right to apply at their own option either for a patent or for an inventor’s certificate, an applicant for an inventor’s certificate shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Article relating to patent applications, enjoy a right of priority based on an application for a patent, a utility model, or an inventor’s certificate.

 

Article 4bis. Patents: Independence of Patents Obtained for the Same Invention in Different Countries

(1) Patents applied for in the various countries of the Union by nationals of countries of the Union shall be independent of patents obtained for the same invention in other countries, whether members of the Union or not.

(2) The foregoing provision is to be understood in an unrestricted sense, in particular, in the sense that patents applied for during the period of priority are independent, both as regards the grounds for nullity and forfeiture, and as regards their normal duration.

(3) The provision shall apply to all patents existing at the time when it comes into effect.

(4) Similarly, it shall apply, in the case of the accession of new countries, to patents in existence on either side at the time of accession.

(5) Patents obtained with the benefit of priority shall, in the various countries of the Union, have a duration equal to that which they would have, had they been applied for or granted without the benefit of priority.

 

Article 4ter. Patents: Mention of the Inventor in the Patent

The inventor shall have the right to be mentioned as such in the patent.

Article 4quater. Patents: Patentability in Case of Restrictions of Sale by Law

The grant of a patent shall not be refused and a patent shall not be invalidated on the ground that the sale of the patented product or of a product obtained by means of a patented process is subject to restrictions or limitations resulting from the domestic law.

 

Article 5. A. Patents: Importation of Articles; Failure to Work or Insufficient Working; Compulsory Licenses

B. Industrial Designs: Failure to Work; Importation of Articles

C. Marks: Failure to Use; Different Forms; Use by Co-proprietors

D. Patents, Utility Models, Marks, Industrial Designs: Marking

A.

(1) Importation by the patentee into the country where the patent has been granted of articles manufactured in any of the countries of the Union shall not entail forfeiture of the patent.

(2) Each country of the Union shall have the right to take legislative measures providing for the grant of compulsory licenses to prevent the abuses which might result from the exercise of the exclusive rights conferred by the patent, for example, failure to work.

(3) Forfeiture of the patent shall not be provided for except in cases where the grant of compulsory licenses would not have been sufficient to prevent the said abuses. No proceedings for the forfeiture or revocation of a patent may be instituted before the expiration of two years from the grant of the first compulsory license.

(4) A compulsory license may not be applied for on the ground of failure to work or insufficient working before the expiration of a period of four years from the date of filing of the patent application or three years from the date of the grant of the patent, whichever period expires last; it shall be refused if the patentee justifies his inaction by legitimate reasons. Such a compulsory license shall be non-exclusive and shall not be transferable, even in the form of the grant of a sub-license, except with that part of the enterprise or goodwill which exploits such license.

(5) The foregoing provisions shall be applicable, mutatis mutandis, to utility models.

B.

The protection of industrial designs shall not, under any circumstance, be subject to any forfeiture, either by reason of failure to work or by reason of the importation of articles corresponding to those which are protected.

C.

(1) If, in any country, use of the registered mark is compulsory, the registration may be cancelled only after a reasonable period, and then only if the person concerned does not justify his inaction.

(2) Use of a trademark by the proprietor in a form differing in elements which do not alter the distinctive character of the mark in the form in which it was registered in one of the countries of the Union shall not entail invalidation of the registration and shall not diminish the protection granted to the mark.

(3) Concurrent use of the same mark on identical or similar goods by industrial or commercial establishments considered as co-proprietors of the mark according to the provisions of the domestic law of the country where protection is claimed shall not prevent registration or diminish in any way the protection granted to the said mark in any country of the Union, provided that such use does not result in misleading the public and is not contrary to the public interest.

D.

No indication or mention of the patent, of the utility model, of the registration of the trademark, or of the deposit of the industrial design, shall be required upon the goods as a condition of recognition of the right to protection.

 

Article 5bis. All Industrial Property Rights: Period of Grace for the Payment of Fees for the Maintenance of Rights;

Patents: Restoration

(1) A period of grace of not less than six months shall be allowed for the payment of the fees prescribed for the maintenance of industrial property rights, subject, if the domestic legislation so provides, to the payment of a surcharge.

(2) The countries of the Union shall have the right to provide for the restoration of patents which have lapsed by reason of non-payment of fees.

 

Article 5ter. Patents: Patented Devices Forming Part of Vessels, Aircraft, or Land Vehicles

In any country of the Union the following shall not be considered as infringements of the rights of a patentee:

(i) the use on board vessels of other countries of the Union of devices forming the subject of his patent in the body of the vessel, in the machinery, tackle, gear and other accessories, when such vessels temporarily or accidentally enter the waters of the said country, provided that such devices are used there exclusively for the needs of the vessel;

(ii) the use of devices forming the subject of the patent in the construction or operation of aircraft or land vehicles of other countries of the Union, or of accessories of such aircraft or land vehicles, when those aircraft or land vehicles temporarily or accidentally enter the said country.

 

Article 5quater. Patents: Importation of Products Manufactured by a Process Patented in the Importing Country

When a product is imported into a country of the Union where there exists a patent protecting a process of manufacture of the said product, the patentee shall have all the rights, with regard to the imported product, that are accorded to him by the legislation of the country of importation, on the basis of the process patent, with respect to products manufactured in that country.

 

Article 5quinquies. Industrial Designs

Industrial designs shall be protected in all the countries of the Union.

 

Article 6. Marks: Conditions of Registration; Independence of Protection of Same Mark in Different Countries

(1) The conditions for the filing and registration of trademarks shall be determined in each country of the Union by its domestic legislation.

(2) However, an application for the registration of a mark filed by a national of a country of the Union in any country of the Union may not be refused, nor may a registration be invalidated, on the ground that filing, registration, or renewal, has not been effected in the country of origin.

(3) A mark duly registered in a country of the Union shall be regarded as independent of marks registered in the other countries of the Union, including the country of origin.

 

Article 6bis. Marks: Well-Known Marks

(1) The countries of the Union undertake, ex officio if their legislation so permits, or at the request of an interested party, to refuse or to cancel the registration, and to prohibit the use, of a trademark which constitutes a reproduction, an imitation, or a translation, liable to create confusion, of a mark considered by the competent authority of the country of registration or use to be well known in that country as being already the mark of a person entitled to the benefits of this Convention and used for identical or similar goods. These provisions shall also apply when the essential part of the mark constitutes a reproduction of any such well-known mark or an imitation liable to create confusion therewith.

(2) A period of at least five years from the date of registration shall be allowed for requesting the cancellation of such a mark. The countries of the Union may provide for a period within which the prohibition of use must be requested.

(3) No time limit shall be fixed for requesting the cancellation or the prohibition of the use of marks registered or used in bad faith.

 

Article 6ter. Marks: Prohibitions concerning State Emblems, Official Hallmarks, and Emblems of Intergovernmental Organizations

(1)

(a) The countries of the Union agree to refuse or to invalidate the registration, and to prohibit by appropriate measures the use, without authorization by the competent authorities, either as trademarks or as elements of trademarks, of armorial bearings, flags, and other State emblems, of the countries of the Union, official signs and hallmarks indicating control and warranty adopted by them, and any imitation from a heraldic point of view.

(b) The provisions of subparagraph (a), above, shall apply equally to armorial bearings, flags, other emblems, abbreviations, and names, of international intergovernmental organizations of which one or more countries of the Union are members, with the exception of armorial bearings, flags, other emblems, abbreviations, and names, that are already the subject of international agreements in force, intended to ensure their protection.

(c) No country of the Union shall be required to apply the provisions of subparagraph (b), above, to the prejudice of the owners of rights acquired in good faith before the entry into force, in that country, of this Convention. The countries of the Union shall not be required to apply the said provisions when the use or registration referred to in subparagraph (a), above, is not of such a nature as to suggest to the public that a connection exists between the organization concerned and the armorial bearings, flags, emblems, abbreviations, and names, or if such use or registration is probably not of such a nature as to mislead the public as to the existence of a connection between the user and the organization.

(2) Prohibition of the use of official signs and hallmarks indicating control and warranty shall apply solely in cases where the marks in which they are incorporated are intended to be used on goods of the same or a similar kind.

(3)

(a) For the application of these provisions, the countries of the Union agree to communicate reciprocally, through the intermediary of the International Bureau, the list of State emblems, and official signs and hallmarks indicating control and warranty, which they desire, or may hereafter desire, to place wholly or within certain limits under the protection of this Article, and all subsequent modifications of such list. Each country of the Union shall in due course make available to the public the lists so communicated. Nevertheless such communication is not obligatory in respect of flags of States.

(b) The provisions of subparagraph (b) of paragraph (1) of this Article shall apply only to such armorial bearings, flags, other emblems, abbreviations, and names, of international intergovernmental organizations as the latter have communicated to the countries of the Union through the intermediary of the International Bureau.

(4) Any country of the Union may, within a period of twelve months from the receipt of the notification, transmit its objections, if any, through the intermediary of the International Bureau, to the country or international intergovernmental organization concerned.

(5) In the case of State flags, the measures prescribed by paragraph (1), above, shall apply solely to marks registered after November 6, 1925.

(6) In the case of State emblems other than flags, and of official signs and hallmarks of the countries of the Union, and in the case of armorial bearings, flags, other emblems, abbreviations, and names, of international intergovernmental organizations, these provisions shall apply only to marks registered more than two months after receipt of the communication provided for in paragraph (3), above.

(7) In cases of bad faith, the countries shall have the right to cancel even those marks incorporating State emblems, signs, and hallmarks, which were registered before November 6, 1925.

(8) Nationals of any country who are authorized to make use of the State emblems, signs, and hallmarks, of their country may use them even if they are similar to those of another country.

(9) The countries of the Union undertake to prohibit the unauthorized use in trade of the State armorial bearings of the other countries of the Union, when the use is of such a nature as to be misleading as to the origin of the goods.

(10) The above provisions shall not prevent the countries from exercising the right given in paragraph (3) of Article 6quinquies, Section B, to refuse or to invalidate the registration of marks incorporating, without authorization, armorial bearings, flags, other State emblems, or official signs and hallmarks adopted by a country of the Union, as well as the distinctive signs of international intergovernmental organizations referred to in paragraph (1), above.

 

Article 6quater. Marks: Assignment of Marks

(1) When, in accordance with the law of a country of the Union, the assignment of a mark is valid only if it takes place at the same time as the transfer of the business or goodwill to which the mark belongs, it shall suffice for the recognition of such validity that the portion of the business or goodwill located in that country be transferred to the assignee, together with the exclusive right to manufacture in the said country, or to sell therein, the goods bearing the mark assigned.

(2) The foregoing provision does not impose upon the countries of the Union any obligation to regard as valid the assignment of any mark the use of which by the assignee would, in fact, be of such a nature as to mislead the public, particularly as regards the origin, nature, or essential qualities, of the goods to which the mark is applied.

 

Article 6quinquies. Marks: Protection of Marks Registered in One Country of the Union in the Other Countries of the Union

A.

(1) Every trademark duly registered in the country of origin shall be accepted for filing and protected as is in the other countries of the Union, subject to the reservations indicated in this Article. Such countries may, before proceeding to final registration, require the production of a certificate of registration in the country of origin, issued by the competent authority. No authentication shall be required for this certificate.

(2) Shall be considered the country of origin the country of the Union where the applicant has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment, or, if he has no such establishment within the Union, the country of the Union where he has his domicile, or, if he has no domicile within the Union but is a national of a country of the Union, the country of which he is a national.

B.

Trademarks covered by this Article may be neither denied registration nor invalidated except in the following cases:

(i) when they are of such a nature as to infringe rights acquired by third parties in the country where protection is claimed;

(ii) when they are devoid of any distinctive character, or consist exclusively of signs or indications which may serve, in trade, to designate the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, place of origin, of the goods, or the time of production, or have become customary in the current language or in the bona fide and established practices of the trade of the country where protection is claimed;

(iii) when they are contrary to morality or public order and, in particular, of such a nature as to deceive the public. It is understood that a mark may not be considered contrary to public order for the sole reason that it does not conform to a provision of the legislation on marks, except if such provision itself relates to public order.

This provision is subject, however, to the application of Article 10bis.

C.

(1) In determining whether a mark is eligible for protection, all the factual circumstances must be taken into consideration, particularly the length of time the mark has been in use.

(2) No trademark shall be refused in the other countries of the Union for the sole reason that it differs from the mark protected in the country of origin only in respect of elements that do not alter its distinctive character and do not affect its identity in the form in which it has been registered in the said country of origin.

D.

No person may benefit from the provisions of this Article if the mark for which he claims protection is not registered in the country of origin.

E.

However, in no case shall the renewal of the registration of the mark in the country of origin involve an obligation to renew the registration in the other countries of the Union in which the mark has been registered.

F.

The benefit of priority shall remain unaffected for applications for the registration of marks filed within the period fixed by Article 4, even if registration in the country of origin is effected after the expiration of such period.

 

Article 6sexies. Marks: Service Marks

The countries of the Union undertake to protect service marks. They shall not be required to provide for the registration of such marks.

 

Article 6septies. Marks: Registration in the Name of the Agent or Representative of the Proprietor Without the Latter’s Authorization

(1) If the agent or representative of the person who is the proprietor of a mark in one of the countries of the Union applies, without such proprietor’s authorization, for the registration of the mark in his own name, in one or more countries of the Union, the proprietor shall be entitled to oppose the registration applied for or demand its cancellation or, if the law of the country so allows, the assignment in his favor of the said registration, unless such agent or representative justifies his action.

(2) The proprietor of the mark shall, subject to the provisions of paragraph (1), above, be entitled to oppose the use of his mark by his agent or representative if he has not authorized such use.

(3) Domestic legislation may provide an equitable time limit within which the proprietor of a mark must exercise the rights provided for in this Article.

 

Article 7. Marks: Nature of the Goods to which the Mark is Applied

The nature of the goods to which a trademark is to be applied shall in no case form an obstacle to the registration of the mark.

 

Article 7bis. Marks: Collective Marks

(1) The countries of the Union undertake to accept for filing and to protect collective marks belonging to associations the existence of which is not contrary to the law of the country of origin, even if such associations do not possess an industrial or commercial establishment.

(2) Each country shall be the judge of the particular conditions under which a collective mark shall be protected and may refuse protection if the mark is contrary to the public interest.

(3) Nevertheless, the protection of these marks shall not be refused to any association the existence of which is not contrary to the law of the country of origin, on the ground that such association is not established in the country where protection is sought or is not constituted according to the law of the latter country.

 

Article 8. Trade Names

A trade name shall be protected in all the countries of the Union without the obligation of filing or registration, whether or not it forms part of a trademark.

 

Article 9. Marks, Trade Names: Seizure, on Importation, etc., of Goods Unlawfully Bearing a Mark or Trade Name

(1) All goods unlawfully bearing a trademark or trade name shall be seized on importation into those countries of the Union where such mark or trade name is entitled to legal protection.

(2) Seizure shall likewise be effected in the country where the unlawful affixation occurred or in the country into which the goods were imported.

(3) Seizure shall take place at the request of the public prosecutor, or any other competent authority, or any interested party, whether a natural person or a legal entity, in conformity with the domestic legislation of each country.

(4) The authorities shall not be bound to effect seizure of goods in transit.

(5) If the legislation of a country does not permit seizure on importation, seizure shall be replaced by prohibition of importation or by seizure inside the country.

(6) If the legislation of a country permits neither seizure on importation nor prohibition of importation nor seizure inside the country, then, until such time as the legislation is modified accordingly, these measures shall be replaced by the actions and remedies available in such cases to nationals under the law of such country.

 

Article 10. False Indications: Seizure, on Importation, etc., of Goods Bearing False Indications as to their Source or the Identity of the Producer

(1) The provisions of the preceding Article shall apply in cases of direct or indirect use of a false indication of the source of the goods or the identity of the producer, manufacturer, or merchant.

(2) Any producer, manufacturer, or merchant, whether a natural person or a legal entity, engaged in the production or manufacture of or trade in such goods and established either in the locality falsely indicated as the source, or in the region where such locality is situated, or in the country falsely indicated, or in the country where the false indication of source is used, shall in any case be deemed an interested party.

 

Article 10bis. Unfair Competition

(1) The countries of the Union are bound to assure to nationals of such countries effective protection against unfair competition.

(2) Any act of competition contrary to honest practices in industrial or commercial matters constitutes an act of unfair competition.

(3) The following in particular shall be prohibited:

(i) all acts of such a nature as to create confusion by any means whatever with the establishment, the goods, or the industrial or commercial activities, of a competitor;

(ii) false allegations in the course of trade of such a nature as to discredit the establishment, the goods, or the industrial or commercial activities, of a competitor;

(iii) indications or allegations the use of which in the course of trade is liable to mislead the public as to the nature, the manufacturing process, the characteristics, the suitability for their purpose, or the quantity, of the goods.

 

Article 10ter. Marks, Trade Names, False Indications, Unfair Competition: Remedies, Right to Sue

(1) The countries of the Union undertake to assure to nationals of the other countries of the Union appropriate legal remedies effectively to repress all the acts referred to in Articles 9, 10, and 10bis.

(2) They undertake, further, to provide measures to permit federations and associations representing interested industrialists, producers, or merchants, provided that the existence of such federations and associations is not contrary to the laws of their countries, to take action in the courts or before the administrative authorities, with a view to the repression of the acts referred to in Articles 9, 10, and 10bis, in so far as the law of the country in which protection is claimed allows such action by federations and associations of that country.

 

Article 11. Inventions, Utility Models, Industrial Designs, Marks: Temporary Protection at Certain International Exhibitions

(1) The countries of the Union shall, in conformity with their domestic legislation, grant temporary protection to patentable inventions, utility models, industrial designs, and trademarks, in respect of goods exhibited at official or officially recognized international exhibitions held in the territory of any of them.

(2) Such temporary protection shall not extend the periods provided by Article 4. If, later, the right of priority is invoked, the authorities of any country may provide that the period shall start from the date of introduction of the goods into the exhibition.

(3) Each country may require, as proof of the identity of the article exhibited and of the date of its introduction, such documentary evidence as it considers necessary.

 

Article 12. Special National Industrial Property Services

(1) Each country of the Union undertakes to establish a special industrial property service and a central office for the communication to the public of patents, utility models, industrial designs, and trademarks.

(2) This service shall publish an official periodical journal. It shall publish regularly:

(a) the names of the proprietors of patents granted, with a brief designation of the inventions patented;

(b) the reproductions of registered trademarks.

 

Article 13. Assembly of the Union

(1)

(a) The Union shall have an Assembly consisting of those countries of the Union which are bound by Articles 13 to 17.

(b) The Government of each country shall be represented by one delegate, who may be assisted by alternate delegates, advisors, and experts.

(c) The expenses of each delegation shall be borne by the Government which has appointed it.

(2)

(a) The Assembly shall:

(i) deal with all matters concerning the maintenance and development of the Union and the implementation of this Convention;

(ii) give directions concerning the preparation for conferences of revision to the International Bureau of Intellectual Property (hereinafter designated as “the International Bureau”) referred to in the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter designated as “the Organization”), due account being taken of any comments made by those countries of the Union which are not hound by Articles 13 to 17;

(iii) review and approve the reports and activities of the Director General of the Organization concerning the Union, and give him all necessary instructions concerning matters within the competence of the Union;

(iv) elect the members of the Executive Committee of the Assembly;

(v) review and approve the reports and activities of its Executive Committee, and give instructions to such Committee;

(vi) determine the program and adopt the biennial budget of the Union, and approve its final accounts;

(vii) adopt the financial regulations of the Union;

(viii) establish such committees of experts and working groups as it deems appropriate to achieve the objectives of the Union;

(ix) determine which countries not members of the Union and which intergovernmental and international nongovernmental organizations shall be admitted to its meetings as observers;

(x) adopt amendments to Articles 13 to 17;

(xi) take any other appropriate action designed to further the objectives of the Union;

(xii) perform such other functions as are appropriate under this Convention;

(xiii) subject to its acceptance, exercise such rights as are given to it in the Convention establishing the Organization.

(b) With respect to matters which are of interest also to other Unions administered by the Organization, the Assembly shall make its decisions after having heard the advice of the Coordination Committee of the Organization.

(3)

(a) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (b), a delegate may represent one country only.

(b) Countries of the Union grouped under the terms of a special agreement in a common office possessing for each of them the character of a special national service of industrial property as referred to in Article 12 may be jointly represented during discussions by one of their number.

(4)

(a) Each country member of the Assembly shall have one vote.

(b) One-half of the countries members of the Assembly shall constitute a quorum.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (b), if, in any session, the number of countries represented is less than one-half but equal to or more than one-third of the countries members of the Assembly, the Assembly may make decisions but, with the exception of decisions concerning its own procedure, all such decisions shall take effect only if the conditions, set forth hereinafter are fulfilled. The International Bureau shall communicate the said decisions to the countries members of the Assembly which were not represented and shall invite them to express in writing their vote or abstention within a period of three months from the date of the communication. If, at the expiration of this period, the number of countries having thus expressed their vote or abstention attains the number of countries which was lacking for attaining the quorum in the session itself, such decisions shall take effect provided that at the same time the required majority still obtains.

(d) Subject to the provisions of Article 17(2), the decisions of the Assembly shall require two-thirds of the votes cast.

(e) Abstentions shall not be considered as votes.

(5)

(a) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (b), a delegate may vote in the name of one country only.

(b) The countries of the Union referred to in paragraph (3)(b) shall, as a general rule, endeavor to send their own delegations to the sessions of the Assembly. If, however, for exceptional reasons, any such country cannot send its own delegation, it may give to the delegation of another such country the power to vote in its name, provided that each delegation may vote by proxy for one country only. Such power to vote shall be granted in a document signed by the Head of State or the competent Minister.

(6) Countries of the Union not members of the Assembly shall be admitted to the meetings of the latter as observers.

(7)

(a) The Assembly shall meet once in every second calendar year in ordinary session upon convocation by the Director General and, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, during the same period and at the same place as the General Assembly of the Organization.

(b) The Assembly shall meet in extraordinary session upon convocation by the Director General, at the request of the Executive Committee or at the request of one-fourth of the countries members of the Assembly.

(8) The Assembly shall adopt its own rules of procedure.

 

Article 14. Executive Committee

(1) The Assembly shall have an Executive Committee.

(2)

(a) The Executive Committee shall consist of countries elected by the Assembly from among countries members of the Assembly. Furthermore, the country on whose territory the Organization has its headquarters shall, subject to the provisions of Article 16(7)(b), have an ex officio seat on the Committee.

(b) The Government of each country member of the Executive Committee shall be represented by one delegate, who may be assisted by alternate delegates, advisors, and experts.

(c) The expenses of each delegation shall be borne by the Government which has appointed it.

(3) The number of countries members of the Executive Committee shall correspond to one-fourth of the number of countries members of the Assembly. In establishing the number of seats to be filled, remainders after division by four shall be disregarded.

(4) In electing the members of the Executive Committee, the Assembly shall have due regard to an equitable geographical distribution and to the need for countries party to the Special Agreements established in relation with the Union to be among the countries constituting the Executive Committee.

(5)

(a) Each member of the Executive Committee shall serve from the close of the session of the Assembly which elected it to the close of the next ordinary session of the Assembly.

(b) Members of the Executive Committee may be re-elected, but only up to a maximum of two-thirds of such members.

(c) The Assembly shall establish the details of the rules governing the election and possible re-election of the members of the Executive Committee.

(6)

(a) The Executive Committee shall:

(i) prepare the draft agenda of the Assembly;

(ii) submit proposals to the Assembly in respect of the draft program and biennial budget of the Union prepared by the Director General;

(iii) [deleted]

(iv) submit, with appropriate comments, to the Assembly the periodical reports of the Director General and the yearly audit reports on the accounts;

(v) take all necessary measures to ensure the execution of the program of the Union by the Director General, in accordance with the decisions of the Assembly and having regard to circumstances arising between two ordinary sessions of the Assembly;

(vi) perform such other functions as are allocated to it under this Convention.

(b) With respect to matters which are of interest also to other Unions administered by the Organization, the Executive Committee shall make its decisions after having heard the advice of the Coordination Committee of the Organization.

(7)

(a) The Executive Committee shall meet once a year in ordinary session upon convocation by the Director General, preferably during the same period and at the same place as the Coordination Committee of the Organization.

(b) The Executive Committee shall meet in extraordinary session upon convocation by the Director General, either on his own initiative, or at the request of its Chairman or one-fourth of its members.

(8)

(a) Each country member of the Executive Committee shall have one vote.

(b) One-half of the members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum.

(c) Decisions shall be made by a simple majority of the votes cast.

(d) Abstentions shall not be considered as votes.

(e) A delegate may represent, and vote in the name of, one country only.

(9) Countries of the Union not members of the Executive Committee shall be admitted to its meetings as observers.

(10) The Executive Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure.

 

Article 15. International Bureau

(1)

(a) Administrative tasks concerning the Union shall be performed by the International Bureau, which is a continuation of the Bureau of the Union united with the Bureau of the Union established by the International Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

(b) In particular, the International Bureau shall provide the secretariat of the various organs of the Union.

(c) The Director General of the Organization shall be the chief executive of the Union and shall represent the Union.

(2) The International Bureau shall assemble and publish information concerning the protection of industrial property. Each country of the Union shall promptly communicate to the International Bureau all new laws and official texts concerning the protection of industrial property. Furthermore, it shall furnish the International Bureau with all the publications of its industrial property service of direct concern to the protection of industrial property which the International Bureau may find useful in its work.

(3) The International Bureau shall publish a monthly periodical.

(4) The International Bureau shall, on request, furnish any country of the Union with information on matters concerning the protection of industrial property.

(5) The International Bureau shall conduct Studies, and shall provide services, designed to facilitate the protection of industrial property.

(6) The Director General and any staff member designated by him shall participate, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the Assembly, the Executive Committee, and any other committee of experts or working group. The Director General, or a staff member designated by him, shall be ex officio secretary of these bodies.

(7)

(a) The International Bureau shall, in accordance with the directions of the Assembly and in cooperation with the Executive Committee, make the preparations for the conferences of revision of the provisions of the Convention other than Articles 13 to 17.

(b) The International Bureau may consult with intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations concerning preparations for conferences of revision.

(c) The Director General and persons designated by him shall take part, without the right to vote, in the discussions at these conferences.

(8) The International Bureau shall carry out any other tasks assigned to it.

 

Article 16. Finances

(1)

(a) The Union shall have a budget.

(b) The budget of the Union shall include the income and expenses proper to the Union, its contribution to the budget of expenses common to the Unions, and, where applicable, the sum made available to the budget of the Conference of the Organization.

(c) Expenses not attributable exclusively to the Union but also to one or more other Unions administered by the Organization shall be considered as expenses common to the Unions. The share of the Union in such common expenses shall be in proportion to the interest the Union has in them.

(2) The budget of the Union shall be established with due regard to the requirements of coordination with the budgets of the other Unions administered by the Organization.

(3) The budget of the Union shall be financed from the following sources:

(i) contributions of the countries of the Union;

(ii) fees and charges due for services rendered by the International Bureau in relation to the Union;

(iii) sale of, or royalties on, the publications of the International Bureau concerning the Union;

(iv) gifts, bequests, and subventions;

(v) rents, interests, and other miscellaneous income.

(4)

(a) For the purpose of establishing its contribution towards the budget, each country of the Union shall belong to a class, and shall pay its annual contributions on the basis of a number of units fixed as follows:

Class I ……………. 25

Class II …………… 20

Class III ………….. 15

Class IV ………….. 10

Class V …………….. 5

Class VI ……………. 3

Class VII …………… 1

 

(b) Unless it has already done so, each country shall indicate, concurrently with depositing its instrument of ratification or accession, the class to which it wishes to belong. Any country may change class. If it chooses a lower class, the country must announce such change to the Assembly at one of its ordinary sessions. Any such change shall take effect at the beginning of the calendar year following the said session.

(c) The annual contribution of each country shall be an amount in the same proportion to the total sum to be contributed to the budget of the Union by all countries as the number of its units is to the total of the units of all contributing countries.

(d) Contributions shall become due on the first of January of each year.

(e) A country which is in arrears in the payment of its contributions may not exercise its right to vote in any of the organs of the Union of which it is a member if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years. However, any organ of the Union may allow such a country to continue to exercise its right to vote in that organ if, and as long as, it is satisfied that the delay in payment is due to exceptional and unavoidable circumstances.

(f) If the budget is not adopted before the beginning of a new financial period, it shall be at the same level as the budget of the previous year, as provided in the financial regulations.

(5) The amount of the fees and charges due for services rendered by the International Bureau in relation to the Union shall be established, and shall be reported to the Assembly and the Executive Committee, by the Director General.

(6)

(a) The Union shall have a working capital fund which shall be constituted by a single payment made by each country of the Union. If the fund becomes insufficient, the Assembly shall decide to increase it.

(b) The amount of the initial payment of each country to the said fund or of its participation in the increase thereof shall be a proportion of the contribution of that country for the year in which the fund is established or the decision to increase it is made.

(c) The proportion and the terms of payment shall be fixed by the Assembly on the proposal of the Director General and after it has heard the advice of the Coordination Committee of the Organization.

(7)

(a) In the headquarters agreement concluded with the country on the territory of which the Organization has its headquarters, it shall be provided that, whenever the working capital fund is insufficient, such country shall grant advances. The amount of these advances and the conditions on which they are granted shall be the subject of separate agreements, in each case, between such country and the Organization. As long as it remains under the obligation to grant advances, such country shall have an ex officio seat on the Executive Committee.

(b) The country referred to in subparagraph (a) and the Organization shall each have the right to denounce the obligation to grant advances, by written notification. Denunciation shall take effect three years after the end of the year in which it has been notified.

(8) The auditing of the accounts shall be effected by one or more of the countries of the Union or by external auditors, as provided in the financial regulations. They shall be designated, with their agreement, by the Assembly.

 

Article 17. Amendment of Articles 13 to 17

(1) Proposals for the amendment of Articles 13, 14, 15, 16, and the present Article, may be initiated by any country member of the Assembly, by the Executive Committee, or by the Director General. Such proposals shall be communicated by the Director General to the member countries of the Assembly at least six months in advance of their consideration by the Assembly.

(2) Amendments to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall be adopted by the Assembly. Adoption shall require three-fourths of the votes cast, provided that any amendment to Article 13, and to the present paragraph, shall require four-fifths of the votes cast.

(3) Any amendment to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall enter into force one month after written notifications of acceptance, effected in accordance with their respective constitutional processes, have been received by the Director General from three-fourths of the countries members of the Assembly at the time it adopted the amendment. Any amendment to the said Articles thus accepted shall bind all the countries which are members of the Assembly at the time the amendment enters into force, or which become members thereof at a subsequent date, provided that any amendment increasing the financial obligations of countries of the Union shall bind only those countries which have notified their acceptance of such amendment.

 

Article 18. Revision of Articles 1 to 12 and 18 to 30

(1) This Convention shall be submitted to revision with a view to the introduction of amendments designed to improve the system of the Union.

(2) For that purpose, conferences shall be held successively in one of the countries of the Union among the delegates of the said countries.

(3) Amendments to Articles 13 to 17 are governed by the provisions of Article 17.

 

Article 19. Special Agreements

It is understood that the countries of the Union reserve the right to make separately between themselves special agreements for the protection of industrial property, in so far as these agreements do not contravene the provisions of this Convention.

 

Article 20. Ratification or Accession by Countries of the Union; Entry Into Force

(1)

(a) Any country of the Union which has signed this Act may ratify it, and, if it has not signed it, may accede to it. Instruments of ratification and accession shall be deposited with the Director General.

(b) Any country of the Union may declare in its instrument of ratification or accession that its ratification or accession shall not apply:

(i) to Articles 1 to 12, or

(ii) to Articles 13 to 17.

(c) Any country of the Union which, in accordance with subparagraph (b), has excluded from the effects of its ratification or accession one of the two groups of Articles referred to in that subparagraph may at any later time declare that it extends the effects of its ratification or accession to that group of Articles. Such declaration shall be deposited with the Director General.

(2)

(a) Articles 1 to 12 shall enter into force, with respect to the first ten countries of the Union which have deposited instruments of ratification or accession without making the declaration permitted under paragraph (1)(b)(i), three months after the deposit of the tenth such instrument of ratification or accession.

(b) Articles 13 to 17 shall enter into force, with respect to the first ten countries of the Union which have deposited instruments of ratification or accession without making the declaration permitted under paragraph (1)(b)(ii), three months after the deposit of the tenth such instrument of ratification or accession.

(c) Subject to the initial entry into force, pursuant to the provisions of subparagraphs (a) and (b), of each of the two groups of Articles referred to in paragraph (1)(b)(i) and (ii), and subject to the provisions of paragraph (1)(b), Articles 1 to 17 shall, with respect to any country of the Union, other than those referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b), which deposits an instrument of ratification or accession or any country of the Union which deposits a declaration pursuant to paragraph (1)(c), enter into force three months after the date of notification by the Director General of such deposit, unless a subsequent date has been indicated in the instrument or declaration deposited. In the latter case, this Act shall enter into force with respect to that country on the date thus indicated.

(3) With respect to any country of the Union which deposits an instrument of ratification or accession, Articles 18 to 30 shall enter into force on the earlier of the dates on which any of the groups of Articles referred to in paragraph (1)(b) enters into force with respect to that country pursuant to paragraph (2)(a), (b), or (c).

 

Article 21. Accession by Countries Outside the Union; Entry Into Force

(1) Any country outside the Union may accede to this Act and thereby become a member of the Union. Instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Director General.

(2)

(a) With respect to any country outside the Union which deposits its instrument of accession one month or more before the date of entry into force of any provisions of the present Act, this Act shall enter into force, unless a subsequent date has been indicated in the instrument of accession, on the date upon which provisions first enter into force pursuant to Article 20(2)(a) or (b); provided that:

(i) if Articles 1 to 12 do not enter into force on that date, such country shall, during the interim period before the entry into force of such provisions, and in substitution therefor, be bound by Articles 1 to 12 of the Lisbon Act,

(ii) if Articles 13 to 17 do not enter into force on that date, such country shall, during the interim period before the entry into force of such provisions, and in substitution therefor, be bound by Articles 13 and 14(3), (4), and (5), of the Lisbon Act.

If a country indicates a subsequent date in its instrument of accession, this Act shall enter into force with respect to that country on the date thus indicated.

(b) With respect to any country outside the Union which deposits its instrument of accession on a date which is subsequent to, or precedes by less than one month, the entry into force of one group of Articles of the present Act, this Act shall, subject to the proviso of subparagraph (a), enter into force three months after the date on which its accession has been notified by the Director General, unless a subsequent date has been indicated in the instrument of accession. In the latter case, this Act shall enter into force with respect to that country on the date thus indicated.

(3) With respect to any country outside the Union which deposits its instrument Of accession after the date of entry into force of the present Act in its entirety, or less than one month before such date, this Act shall enter into force three months after the date on which its accession has been notified by the Director General, unless a subsequent date has been indicated in the instrument of accession. In the latter case, this Act shall enter into force with respect to that country on the date thus indicated.

 

Article 22. Consequences of Ratification or Accession

Subject to the possibilities of exceptions provided for in Articles 20(1)(b) and 28(2), ratification or accession shall automatically entail acceptance of all the clauses and admission to all the advantages of this Act.

 

Article 23. Accession to Earlier Acts

After the entry into force of this Act in its entirety, a country may not accede to earlier Acts of this Convention.

 

Article 24. Territories

(1) Any country may declare in its instrument of ratification or accession, or may inform the Director General by written notification any time thereafter, that this Convention shall be applicable to all or part of those territories, designated in the declaration or notification, for the external relations of which it is responsible.

(2) Any country which has made such a declaration or given such a notification may, at any time, notify the Director General that this Convention shall cease to be applicable to all or part of such territories.

(3)

(a) Any declaration made under paragraph (1) shall take effect on the same date as the ratification or accession in the instrument of which it was included, and any notification given under such paragraph shall take effect three months after its notification by the Director General.

(b) Any notification given under paragraph (2) shall take effect twelve months after its receipt by the Director General.

 

Article 25. Implementation of the Convention on the Domestic Level

(1) Any country party to this Convention undertakes to adopt, in accordance with its constitution, the measures necessary to ensure the application of this Convention.

(2) It is understood that, at the time a country deposits its instrument of ratification or accession, it will be in a position under its domestic law to give effect to the provisions of this Convention.

 

Article 26. Denunciation

(1) This Convention shall remain in force without limitation as to time.

(2) Any country may denounce this Act by notification addressed to the Director General. Such denunciation shall constitute also denunciation of all earlier Acts and shall affect only the country making it, the Convention remaining in full force and effect as regards the other countries of the Union.

(3) Denunciation shall take effect one year after the day on which the Director General has received the notification.

(4) The right of denunciation provided by this Article shall not be exercised by any country before the expiration of five years from the date upon which it becomes a member of the Union.

 

Article 27. Application of Earlier Acts

(1) The present Act shall, as regards the relations between the countries to which it applies, and to the extent that it applies, replace the Convention of Paris of March 20, 1883 and the subsequent Acts of revision.

(2)

(a) As regards the countries to which the present Act does not apply, or does not apply in its entirety, but to which the Lisbon Act of October 31, 1958, applies, the latter shall remain in force in its entirety or to the extent that the present Act does not replace it by virtue of paragraph (1).

(b) Similarly, as regards the countries to which neither the present Act, nor portions thereof, nor the Lisbon Act applies, the London Act of June 2, 1934, shall remain in force in its entirety or to the extent that the present Act does not replace it by virtue of paragraph (1).

(c) Similarly, as regards the countries to which neither the present Act, nor portions thereof, nor the Lisbon Act, nor the London Act applies, the Hague Act of November 6, 1925, shall remain in force in its entirety or to the extent that the present Act does not replace it by virtue of paragraph (1).

(3) Countries outside the Union which become party to this Act shall apply it with respect to any country of the Union not party to this Act or which, although party to this Act, has made a declaration pursuant to Article 20(1)(b)(i). Such countries recognize that the said country of the Union may apply, in its relations with them, the provisions of the most recent Act to which it is party.

 

Article 28. Disputes

(1) Any dispute between two or more countries of the Union concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention, not settled by negotiation, may, by any one of the countries concerned, be brought before the International Court of Justice by application in conformity with the Statute of the Court, unless the countries concerned agree on some other method of settlement. The country bringing the dispute before the Court shall inform the International Bureau; the International Bureau shall bring the matter to the attention of the other countries of the Union.

(2) Each country may, at the time it signs this Act or deposits its instrument of ratification or accession, declare that it does not consider itself bound by the provisions of paragraph (1). With regard to any dispute between such country and any other country of the Union, the provisions of paragraph (1) shall not apply.

(3) Any country having made a declaration in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (2) may, at any time, withdraw its declaration by notification addressed to the Director General.

 

Article 29. Signature, Languages, Depositary Functions

(1)

(a) This Act shall be signed in a single copy in the French language and shall be deposited with the Government of Sweden.

(b) Official texts shall be established by the Director General, after consultation with the interested Governments, in the English, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish languages, and such other languages as the Assembly may designate.

(c) In case of differences of opinion on the interpretation of the various texts, the French text shall prevail.

(2) This Act shall remain open for signature at Stockholm until January 13, 1968.

(3) The Director General shall transmit two copies, certified by the Government of Sweden, of the signed text of this Act to the Governments of all countries of the Union and, on request, to the Government of any other country.

(4) The Director General shall register this Act with the Secretariat of the United Nations.

(5) The Director General shall notify the Governments of all countries of the Union of signatures, deposits of instruments of ratification or accession and any declarations included in such instruments or made pursuant to Article 20(1)(c), entry into force of any provisions of this Act, notifications of denunciation, and notifications pursuant to Article 24.

 

Article 30. Transitional Provisions

(1) Until the first Director General assumes office, references in this Act to the International Bureau of the Organization or to the Director General shall be deemed to be references to the Bureau of the Union or its Director, respectively.

(2) Countries of the Union not bound by Articles 13 to 17 may, until five years after the entry into force of the Convention establishing the Organization, exercise, if they so desire, the rights provided under Articles 13 to 17 of this Act as if they were bound by those Articles. Any country desiring to exercise such rights shall give written notification to that effect to the Director General; such notification shall be effective from the date of its receipt. Such countries shall be deemed to be members of the Assembly until the expiration of the said period.

(3) As long as all the countries of the Union have not become Members of the Organization, the International Bureau of the Organization shall also function as the Bureau of the Union, and the Director General as the Director of the said Bureau.

(4) Once all the countries of the Union have become Members of the Organization, the rights, obligations, and property, of the Bureau of the Union shall devolve on the International Bureau of the Organization.

Liability of unlawful use of trade mark

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Cection V. Civil code of Kyrgyz Republic

CIVIL CODE OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

SECTION V. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Chapter 53. General Provisions

 

Article 1037. Objects of Intellectual Property

Objects of intellectual property shall include:

1) results of intellectual activities:

  • works of science, literature and art;
  • performances, phonograms, programs of a broadcasting organization;
  • programs of computer software and databases;
  • integrated circuits topographies;
  • inventions, utility models, industrial designs;
  • breeding achievements;
  • undisclosed information, including secrets of production (know-how);

2) means of individualization of participants of the civil turnover, goods, works and services;

  • trade names;
  • trademarks (service marks);
  • appellations of places of origin of goods;

(3) other results of intellectual activity and means of individualization of participants of civil turnover, goods, works and services in the cases stipulated by this Code or other laws.

 

Article 1038. Legal Protection of Intellectual Property Objects

Legal protection of intellectual property objects arises due to the fact of their creation or as a result of rendering legal protection by an authorized state body in the cases and in the procedure stipulated by this Code and by other statutes.

 

Article 1039. Personal Economic and Non-Economic Rights to the Objects of Intellectual Property

(1) Authors of the results of intellectual activity shall have personal non-economic and economic rights in respect of these results.

Personal non-economic rights shall belong to the author irrespective of his economic rights and shall be retained by him in the case when his economic rights to the results of intellectual activity are transferred to another person.

(2) Owners of the right to the means of individualization of participants of civil turnover, goods, works or services (hereinafter referred to as “individualization means”) shall have economic rights in respect of these means.

(3) The right of authorship (the right to be recognized as the author of intellectual activity result) shall be a personal non-economic right and may belong only to the person who created the result of intellectual activity.

The right of authorship shall be inalienable and non-transferable.

(4) If the result is created by joint creative labor of two or more persons, they shall be considered co-authors.

 

Article 1040. Exclusive Rights to the Objects of Intellectual Property

1) The owner of economic rights to the result of intellectual activity or individualization means shall enjoy the exclusive right to make legal use of this object of intellectual property at his discretion in any form and way.

Use of intellectual property objects by other persons in respect of which the owner of the right enjoys the exclusive right, shall be permitted only upon the consent of the owner of the right.

(2) The owner of the exclusive right to the intellectual property object shall have the right to delegate the right to another person fully or partially, to authorize another person to use an intellectual property object and to enjoy the right to dispose it at his discretion provided it does not collide with the rules of this Code and other laws.

(3) Limitation of the exclusive rights, including the cases of doing it through rendering possibility to use intellectual property objects by other persons, recognition of these rights to be ineffective and their annulment (cancellation), shall be permitted in the cases, limits and procedure stipulated by this Code and other laws.

Limitation of the exclusive rights shall be permitted provided that such a limitation does not cause damage to the normal use of an intellectual property object and does not infringe the legitimate interests of the right owners.

 

Article 1041. Transfer of the Exclusive Rights to Another Person

(1) The economic rights belonging to an owner of the exclusive rights to an intellectual property object, if it is not stipulated otherwise by this Code or other laws, may be transferred by the owner of the right fully or partially to another person on the basis of a contract as well as transferred on inheritance or in the procedure of succession in the course of reorganization of a legal entity-right owner.

(2) The transfer of economic rights on a contractual basis or their transfer in the procedure of universal legal succession does not entail transfer or limitation of the right of authorship and other personal non-economic rights. The terms of the contract on transfer or limitation of such rights are void.

The exclusive rights that are being transferred according to the contract, shall be defined in it. The rights which are not specified in the contract as alienable shall be assumed to be not transferred because otherwise has not been proved.

The rules of licensing agreement shall be applied to a contract, which stipulates granting of the exclusive right within the term of its effectiveness, to another person for a limited period of time.

 

Article 1042. Licensing Agreement

(1) According to the licensing agreement the party which holds the exclusive right to the result of intellectual activity or means of individualization (licenser) shall grant to other party (licensee) permission for the use of a certain object of intellectual property.

The licensing agreement shall be assumed to be compensable.

(2) The licensing agreement may stipulate the following to be granted to a licensee:

– the right to use an object of intellectual property with the right of a licenser to use it and the right to grant the license to other persons (non exclusive license);

– the right to use an object of intellectual property with the right of a licenser to use it within the part not transferred to the licensee to other persons (exclusive license);

– other types of license allowed by the law.

Unless otherwise provided in the licensing agreement, the license shall be presumed to be (non exclusive).

(3) An agreement under which a licensee grants the right to use the object of intellectual property to another person is considered to be sub-license agreement. The licensee has the right to conclude a sub-license agreement in the cases stipulated by the licensing agreement.

Responsibility to the licenser for actions of a sub-licensee shall be carried by the licensee unless the licensing agreement stipulates otherwise.

 

Article 1043. The Agreement on Creation and Use the Results of Intellectual Activity

(1) According to the agreement on creation and use the results of intellectual activity the author may assume an obligation to create in the future a work, invention or other result of intellectual activity and grant to the client, who is not his employer, the exclusive rights to use this result.

Such an agreement must determine the nature of the result of intellectual activity which is subject to creation, as well as purposes or methods of its use.

(2) An agreement binding the author to grant to any person the exclusive rights to use any results of intellectual activity, which this author will create in the future shall be deemed void.

Conditions of the agreement on creation and use the results of intellectual property limiting the author to create the results of intellectual activity of certain type or in certain area in the future shall be deemed void.

 

Article 1044. The Exclusive Right and Property Right

The exclusive right to the result of intellectual property or means of individualization shall exist irrespective of property right to the material object in which such result or means of individualization are expressed.

 

Article 1045. .Effective Term of the Exclusive Right to the Objects of Intellectual Property

(1) The exclusive right to the objects of intellectual activity shall be effective for the term established by this Code or other laws.

(2) Personal non economic rights in respect of objects of intellectual property shall be effective without time-limits.

(3) In the cases stipulated by the law, validity of the exclusive right to the objects of intellectual property may be terminated in the result of failure to use it within certain period.

 

Article 1046. Methods of Protection of the Exclusive Rights to the Objects of Intellectual Property

(1) Protection of the exclusive rights to the objects of intellectual property is implemented by the methods stipulated in Article 11 of this Code. Protection of the exclusive rights may be implemented by the following methods:

– withdrawal of material objects with the help of which the exclusive rights are violated and material objects created in the result of such violation;

– obligatory publication on the violation committed, with the inclusion of the information as to who owns the violated right;

– other methods stipulated by the law.

(2) In the case of violation the agreement on creation and use the results of intellectual activity and means of individualization, general rules on the responsibility for violation of obligations shall be applied.

 

Chapter 54. Copyright

 

Article 1047. Works Protected by Copyright (Objects of Copyright)

(1) The copyright shall extend to the works of science, literature and art which are the result of creative activity, irrespective of the purpose, the merit and the manner of expression thereof.

(2) The work must be expressed in verbal, written or other objective form allowing the possibility of its perception.

The work in the written or otherwise expressed in a material carrier (manuscript, typewritten, musical score, recording with the help of technical means, including audio or video recording, fixation of the imprint in three dimensional or optical form, etc.) shall be deemed to have an objective form irrespective of its availability to the third persons.

Verbal and other work not expressed in a material carrier shall be deemed to have an objective form if it became available for perception by third persons (public recitation, public performance, etc.).

(3) The copyright shall extend both to promulgated and non-promulgated works.

(4) The copyright shall not extend to ideas, procedures, methods, concepts, principles, systems, proposed solutions, discoveries of objectively existing phenomena.

(5) No registration of work or observation of any other formalities shall be required for a copyright to emerge.

 

Article 1048. Types of Objects of Copyright

The following shall be referred to the objects of copyright:

? literary works (literary-artistic, scientific, educational, publicistic and etc.);

? dramatic and scenario works;

? musical works with text and without it;

? music-dramatic works;

? choreographic works and pantomime;

? audiovisual works (cinema, television and video films, slide films and other cinema, television and video works), radio works;

? works of painting, sculpture, graphics, design and other works of fine arts;

? works of applied art and stage designs;

? works of architecture, urban planning, garden and park designs;

? photographic works and works obtained by way analogous to photography;

? geographical, geological and other maps, plans and sketches and other works related to geography, topography and other sciences;

? computer software programs of all types including applied programs and operational systems;

? other works complying with the requirements established in Article 1047 of this Code.

 

Article 1049. Parts of a Work, Derivative and Composite Works

(1) The objects of copyright shall be deemed parts of works, their designations and derivative works which meet the requirements established in Article 1047 of this Code.

The derivative works are works that present re-works of other works (translations, processing, annotations, abstracts, resumes, surveys, screen versions, arrangements and other similar works of science, literature and art);

Composite works shall include compilations (encyclopedias, anthologies) and other composite works that present the result of creative labor due to their set and arrangement.

(2) Derivative and composite works shall be protected by copyright irrespective of whether or not the works, on which they are based on or which they include, are the objects of copyright.

 

Article 1050. Works and Similar Results of Activity Which are not Objects of Copyright

The following shall not be deemed to be objects of copyright:

? official documents (laws, resolutions, decisions, etc.), as well as official translations thereof;

? official symbols and signs (flags, emblems, armorial bearings, monetary signs, etc.);

? works of folklore;

? information on daily news or information on current events which are of the common press nature;

? results gained with the help of technical means for production of a work of a certain type, but without creative activity of a man directly intended to create an individual work.

 

Article 1051. Rights to the Drafts of Official Documents, Symbols and Signs

(1) The right of authorship to a draft of official document, symbol or mark shall belong to an individual who developed the draft (the developer).

Developers of the drafts of official documents, symbols or marks shall have the right to publish such drafts if this is not prohibited by the body on whose order the draft was developed. Developers have the right to specify their names when publishing the draft.

(2) A draft may be used by a competent body to prepare an official document without developer’s consent if the draft was published by him and sent to a relevant body.

In the course of preparation the official documents, symbols and marks on the basis of a draft, amendments and addenda may be introduced into it at the discretion of the body who prepares the official document, symbol or mark.

After the draft is approved by a competent body, it may be used without indication the name of developer.

 

Article 1052. The Author of a Work Presumption of Authorship

(1) A citizen by whose creative labor the work is produced, shall be recognized as an author of the work.

A person, whose name is specified as an author’s name at the first publication of a work, shall be considered its author unless otherwise is proved.

(2) Where a published work is anonymous or pseudonymous (except for the cases when the author’s pseudonym leaves no doubt in his identity) the publisher, whose name is indicated on the work, unless proved otherwise, shall be considered the author’s representative and have the right to defend and enforce the author’s rights. This provision shall remain in force until the author of such a work discloses his identity and claims his authorship.

 

Article 1053. Co-Authorship

(1) The copyright to the work, created by joint creative labor of two or more citizens, shall belong to co-authors mutually, irrespective of whether such a work constitutes an indivisible whole or consists of the parts each of which also has an independent standing.

Part of a work shall be recognized as having its independent standing if it can be used independently from other parts of this work.

Each of the co-authors shall have the right to use part of the work created by him and having its independent standing at his discretion, unless otherwise is stipulated by the agreement between them.

(2) As a rule the relations between the co-authors are determined on the basis of the agreement. If there is not such an agreement, the copyright to the work shall be exercised by all the authors jointly and the remuneration shall be distributed among them equally.

If the work of co-authors forms an indivisible whole, none of the co-authors shall be entitled to prohibit the exploitation of the work without valid reasons.

 

Article 1054. The Authors of Derivative and Composite Works

(1) The authors of derivative and composite works shall be considered the persons who processed other works, translators, compilers of collections and other composite works that present the result of creative labor due to the set or arrangement.

The author of a derivative and composite work shall enjoy the copyright to such a work provided that he observes with the rights of the author of the work which was subject to processing, translation or incorporation into a composite work.

(2) The copyright of creators of derivative and composite works shall not prevent other persons from creating their own derivative works on the basis of the works used previously.

 

Article 1055. Rights of Persons Organizing Creation of Works

(1) Persons who organize creation of works (encyclopedia publishers, film makers, producers, etc.) shall not be recognized as authors of the appropriate works.

However, in the cases stipulated by this Code or other laws, such persons shall acquire the exclusive rights to use these works.

(2) Publishers of encyclopedia, encyclopedic dictionaries, periodical and continuos collections of scientific works, newspapers, magazines and other periodicals shall enjoy the exclusive right to use these publications. The publisher has the right to specify his name or require such specification at any use of such publication.

(3) The authors of the works included into such publications shall retain the exclusive right to use their own works irrespective of the publication in whole, unless otherwise is stipulated by the agreement to create the work.

(4) Conclusion of the agreement to create an audio-visual work, including a movie, does not entail transfer of the exclusive right from the author of the work to the producer to reproduction, distribution, public performance, cable communication for public information, broadcasting or any other public use of the product, subtitling or dubbing of the text of the movie, unless otherwise is stipulated by the agreement. The rights mentioned shall be in force for the term of validity of a copyright to an audio-visual work.

Producer of an audio-visual work shall have the right to specify its (his) name or demand such a specification at any use of this work.

At a public display (show) of an audio-visual work the author of a musical work (either with text or without it) shall retain the right to remuneration for public performance of his musical work, unless the agreement provides otherwise.

Destruction of the final version of the movie (original, negative) without consent of the author and other holders of economic rights to a movie shall be prohibited.

 

Article 1056. The Mark of Protection Copyright

(1) In order to inform about his rights, the owner of the exclusive copyright may use a copyright protection mark on each copy of the work. The mark consists of three elements:

– the Latin letter “C” in a circle;

– the name of the holder of the exclusive copyright;

– the year of the first publication of the work.

(2) A person specified on the copyright protection mark shall be deemed to be the right holder, unless proved otherwise.

 

Article 1057. Personal Non-Economic Rights of the Author

(1) The author of a work shall have the following personal non-economic rights:

? right of authorship;

? right to the name;

? right to promulgation including the right to revoke;

? right to work inviolability;

(2) The agreement of the author with somebody and application of the author on revocation of personal non-economic rights shall be void.

 

Article 1058. Right of Authorship

The right of authorship to created work that belongs to an author (co-authors) shall exclude acknowledgment of authorship of other persons to the same work.

 

Article 1059. Right to the Name

The author shall have the exclusive right to use or authorize the use of the work under his name, pseudonym or anonymously (right to the name).

 

Article 1060. Right to Inviolability of the Work

(1) The author shall have the exclusive right to introduce amendments and addenda to his work and to protect his work from the introduction of amendments and addenda by somebody without consent of the author (right to inviolability of the work).

In publishing, public performance or other use of a work any amendments may be introduced to the work itself as well as its name and the author’s name only with the consent of the author.

It shall be prohibited to include illustrations, prefaces, epilogues, comments and any other explanations in the work without the consent of the author.

(2) After the death of an author the inviolability of the work shall be provided by the person indicated in the will and in the absence of such indications-by the heirs of the author as well as the persons responsible for protection of copyright in accordance with the Law.

 

Article 1061. Right to Promulgation of a Work

(1) The author shall have the right to open an access to the work for an indefinite group of people (right to publication).

(2) The work shall be deemed promulgated when the access to the work for an indefinite group of people is opened for the first time by the author or under his consent by means of publication, public performance, public demonstration of the work or its issuance otherwise.

The author shall have the right to refuse from the previously made decision on promulgation of the work (right to revoke) under condition that the losses, including lost profits caused to the persons entitled to use the work, are covered. If the work was promulgated the author must publicly inform about its revocation. He shall have the right to withdraw from circulation the earlier produced copies of the work at his own expense. These provisions shall also apply to the work products unless the agreement with the author stipulates otherwise.

 

Article 1062. Author’s Right to Use a Work

(1) An author shall have the exclusive rights to use the work in any form and way.

(2) The use of a work shall be considered its reproduction and distribution, as well as its sale in other ways, that, in particular shall include:

? public demonstration (exhibition, display) of the work;

? renting of a copy which is the material carrier of the work;

? public performance of the work;

? transmission of the work to air (broadcast by radio or TV) including transmission via cable or satellite;

? technical record of the work;

? reproduction of technical record of the work including by radio or television;

? translation or re-doing of the work for its further use;

? practical implementation of urban planning, architectural and design project.

Reproduction shall be considered repeated creation of an objective form of the work at least the one it had in the original form (publication of the work, copying of audio or video records etc.).

The distribution of the work shall include the sale, exchange, rent and other operations with copies of the work.

(3) When the copies of the work are alienated legally, their further distribution shall be allowed without consent of the author and without payment of author’s remuneration, except for the cases stipulated by the Law.

(4) The work shall be deemed used irrespective of whether it is used in order to get income (profit) or it is not the purpose of the use.

(5) The practical application of principles composing the content of a work (invention, technical, economic, organizational and other similar solutions) shall not be deemed as the use of a work in terms of copyright.

 

Article 1063. Disposal of the Right to Use a Work

(1) The author or other owner of the right may transfer all the rights to use the work to another person in accordance with the agreement, including the one concluded at public auctions (alienation of the right to use).

(2) The right to use the work shall be transferred in accordance with the procedure of universal legal succession.

(3) The right-holder may grant the permission (license) to another person to use the work within certain limits. The permission is required to use the work both in the original and revised version, in particular-in the form of translation, arrangement, etc.

(4) Every method of use of the work requires special permission of the right holder.

 

Article 1064. Limits of Copyrights

The exclusive rights of the author and other persons to use the work shall be allowed only in the cases stipulated by Articles 1065-1068 of this Code or other Laws.

The indicated restrictions shall be applied under condition that it neither damages the normal use of the work nor unreasonably infringes the legal interests of the author.

 

Article 1065. Reproduction of Alien Work for Personal Purposes

(1) The alien work which was publicly released shall be allowed to use for personal purposes without consent of the author and without payment of author’s remuneration provided that the normal use of the work is not damaged and the legal interests of the author are not infringed.

(2) The rules of the first paragraph of this Article shall not apply in relation to:

? the use of architectural works in the form of buildings and similar structures;

? the use of data bases or their significant parts;

? the use of computer software, except for the cases stipulated by the Law;

? reproduction of books (as a whole) and musical scores;

(3) In the first paragraph of this Article the Law shall have an exception to stipulate that if an audiovisual work or work fixed on a phonogram is used for personal purposes, the author, performer and producer of the record shall be entitled to the commensurate remuneration.

The remuneration for reproduction shall be paid in the form of deductions (interests) by the producers and importers of equipment (audio electronics, video-tape recorders, etc.) and material carriers (audio and (or) video tapes, cassettes, laser disks, compact disks, etc.) which are used for such reproduction.

 

Article 1066. Free Public Performance of Works

Public performance of the legally published musical compositions during the official religious and funeral ceremonies shall be allowed without consent of the author and without payment of author’s remuneration in the volume justified by the nature of such ceremonies.

 

Article 1067. Free Reproduction of Works for Judicial Purposes

The reproduction of works for the purposes of judicial and administrative work in the volume justified by the purpose of use shall be allowed without consent of the author and without the payment of author’s remuneration.

 

Article 1068. Right to the Work Product

(1) Personal non-economic rights to the work created in the course of execution of service assignment (work product) shall belong to the author of the work.

(2) The right to use the work product in the way set by the purpose of the assignment and limits preconditioned by it, shall belong to the person on whose assignment the work has been created and with whom the author has labor relations (employer) unless the agreement between him and the author stipulates otherwise. The employer shall be entitled to transfer this right of use to another person.

The agreement of the employer with the author may stipulate payment of remuneration to the author for the use of the work product and contain other conditions of its use.

(3) After ten years from the date of submission of the work and with the consent of the employer-earlier, the author shall obtain the full right to use the work and receive author’s remuneration, irrespective of the agreement concluded with the employer.

(4) The author’s right to use a work product in a way not conditioned by the purpose of the assignment, shall not be limited.

 

Article 1069. Validity of Copyright in the Territory of the Kyrgyz Republic

(1) The copyright to the work promulgated in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic or non-promulgated but the original copy of which in any form is located in the territory of the Republic, shall be valid in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. In this case the copyright shall belong to the author and his heirs as well as other legal successors of the author irrespective of their citizenship.

(2) The copyright shall also belong to the citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic whose works are promulgated or exist in some objective form in the territory of a foreign state, as well as to their heirs and other legal successors.

(3) When the author is protected legally in accordance with the international agreements the fact of promulgation in the territory of a foreign state shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the appropriate international agreement.

In order to protect the work in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic the person who is recognized as the author of the work shall be determined in accordance with the Laws of the state where the work commenced being protected for the first time.

 

Article 1070. Commencement of Copyright Effectiveness

(1) The copyright to the work shall be in force from the date of shaping it into an objective form simple for perception by the third parties irrespective of promulgation. The copyright to the oral work shall be in force from the moment of its communication to the third persons.

(2) Where the work does not come under Article 1069 of this Code the copyright to such a work shall be protected from the moment of promulgation of the work provided that it carried out in the Kyrgyz Republic.

 

Article 1071. Term of Copyright Validity

(1) The copyright shall be valid during the whole life of the author and fifty years after his death, beginning from the first of January of the year following the year of the author’s death.

(2) The copyright to the work created in co-authorship shall be valid during the whole life of the co-authors and fifty years after the death of the last of co-author who outlived other co-authors.

(3) The copyright to the work issued for the first time under pseudonym or anonymously shall be valid during fifty years, beginning from January 1 of the year following the year when the work was issued.

Where the pseudonym or an anonymous author is disclosed, the terms indicated in the first paragraph of this Article shall be applied.

(4) During the period indicated in the first paragraph of this Article the copyright shall belong to the author’s heirs and be inherited. During the same terms the copyright shall belong to the legal successors who obtained this right on the basis of the contract with the author, his heirs and future legal successors.

(5) The copyright to the work issued for the first time during fifty years after the author’s death shall be valid during fifty years after its issue, beginning from January 1 of the year following the year when the work was issued.

(6) The authorship, name of the author and inviolability of the work shall be protected without fixed limits.

 

Article 1072 Transfer of a Work to the Public Domain

(1) Upon expiration of copyright validity term for the work, it shall become public domain.

The works which have never been protected in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be deemed to be public domain.

(2) The works which belong to public domain may be used freely by any person without payment of the author’s remuneration. The right of authorship, right to the name and the right to inviolability of the work shall be observed.

 

Article 1073. Author’s Contract

(1) The author or his heirs may transfer the right to use his work to another person by the way of conclusion of the author’s contract. The author’s contract shall be for pay.

(2) The author’s contract may be concluded for a prepared work or for the work which will be created by the author under his obligation (order contract). The author’s contract shall also be the contract permitting the use of the work within certain limits, which is concluded by the author or his heirs (author’s licensing contract).

 

Article 1074. Conditions of the Author’s Contract

(1) The author’s contract must stipulate:

– methods of use of the work (specific rights transferred in accordance with this contract);

– term and territory for which the right is transferred;

– the amount of remuneration and (or) procedure for determination the amount of remuneration for every method of use of the work, procedure and terms of payment.

If the author’s contract does not stipulate conditions on the term for which the right to use the work is transferred, the contract may be canceled by the author in five years from the date of its conclusion provided that the user is informed about it in writing, six month before the cancellation of the contract.

If the author’s contract does not stipulate the conditions about the territory on which the right to use the work is valid, the validity of the right transferred in accordance with the contract shall be limited by the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

(2) The subject of the author’s contract can not include the rights to use the work which are unknown at the moment of conclusion the contract.

(3) The amount of remuneration for the use of the work shall be specified in the author’s contract under the agreement of the parties.

Where the author’s contract on publication or other reproduction of performance of the work sets the fixed amount of the remuneration, the contract shall stipulate the maximum number of copies of the work.

The waiver of the author and his heirs from the right to remuneration is void.

(4) The rights transferred under the author’s contract can be transferred by any party of the contract fully or partially to other persons only if it is directly stipulated by such a contract.

 

Article 1075. Form of the Author’s Contract

The author’s contract shall be concluded in the written form except the cases stipulated by the Law.

 

Article 1076. Responsibility Under the Author’s Contract

The party which did not fulfill or improperly fulfilled the liabilities under the author’s contract must cover the losses caused to the other party including lost profit.

 

Article 1077. Term of Validity of the Author’s Licensing Contract

(1) The author’s licensing contract shall be valid during the period stipulated by it, but not longer than the term of the copyright validity.

(2) Irrespective of weather the term of validity is included in the author’s licensing contract or not, the author of the work and his heirs shall be entitled to cancel the contract unilaterally in ten years after the date of the conclusion of the contract, informing his contract agent about it in writing, six months prior to the cancellation of the contract. The author and his heirs shall have this right every ten years.

(3) The contract can stipulate the terms of use of the work, the violation of which results in the right of the legal successor to cancel the contract.

 

Article 1078. Liability for Illegal Use of a Work Without Contract

In the event the work is used without a contract concluded with the owner of the right, the violator is obliged to indemnify the losses caused to the right owner, including lost profit. The right owner shall be entitled to disgorge from the violator the revenues obtained in the result of the violation instead of the losses.

The use of the work in a way which is not stipulated by the author’s contract or after expiration of validity of such a contract shall be considered the use of the work without a contract.

 

Article 1079. Legal Regulation of Authors’ Relations

The authors’ relations shall be regulated by this Code and other legislation.

 

Chapter 55. Neighboring Rights

 

Article 1080. Object of Neighboring Rights

Neighboring rights shall extend to staging, performance, phonograms, programs of broadcasting and cable organizations.

 

Article 1081. Subjects of Neighboring Rights

(1) The right to performance shall belong to actors-performers, director-stagers, conductors. The right to use such a performance may be transferred to heirs and other legal successors.

(2) The right to record a performance shall belong to the person who created such a record or to his/her legal successors.

(3) The right to transmission shall belong to the broadcasting or cable organization that created a program or to its legal successors.

 

Article 1082. Mark of Protection of Neighboring Rights

The producer of a phonogram and the performer may, in order to inform about his rights, use the mark of protection neighboring rights which is placed on each copy of a phonogram and (or) on each sleeve and consists of three elements:

? a circled Latin letter “P”;

? name of the owner of the exclusive neighboring rights;

? year of the first publication of the recording.

 

Article 1083. Rights of a Performer

(1) The performer has the right for:

? indication of his/her name during performance, on copies of the record of performance or staging, in the course of broadcast or reproduction of the performance or staging;

? protection of the performance or staging against distortion;

? provision or permission to use the performance or staging;

(2) The right to use the performance or staging includes the right to allow:

? broadcast or cable transmission of the performance or staging;

? record of the performance or staging with the help of technical devices;

? broadcast and public reproduction of the produced record of a performance or staging;

? copying and distribution of the copies of a record of a performance and staging.

(3) Performers shall exercise their rights with the observation of the rights of authors of the works performed.

(4) Restrictions of the right to use or stage the performance shall be established by the law.

(5) The provisions of Article 1068 shall accordingly apply to the right to performance made in the course of execution of the work related assignment (work performance or staging).

 

Article 1084. Rights of a Producer of a Phonogram

(1) Producer of a phonogram and his legal successor shall have the exclusive right to this phonogram.

Exploitation of such a phonogram by other persons is allowed only upon the permission of the producer of a phonogram or his legal successor.

(2) Producer of a phonogram or his legal successor shall have the right to perform or to authorize the following:

? public reproduction of the phonogram;

? adaptation or any other transformation of the phonogram;

? distribution of copies of the phonogram (sale, rental etc.), including their transfer abroad;

? import copies of the phonogram.

(3) If the property right to the copy of the record of performance belongs not to its creator, the exclusive right to use the record, including its commercial rental belongs to the person who created the record.

(4) Restrictions of the rights of the producer of performance shall be established by the law.

(5) Holders of the right to the phonogram shall exercise their rights taking into account the rights of authors of the work and rights of the performers.

 

Article 1085. Rights of a Cable Broadcasting Organization

(1) Broadcasting company shall have the exclusive right to exploit its program in any form and give permission to third persons to use such a program.

Exploitation of the program by the third persons shall be done on the basis of a contract. The right-holder shall be entitled to remuneration for each type of use.

(2) Restrictions of the rights of a broadcasting company shall be established by the law.

(3) The broadcasting company shall implement its rights taking into account the rights of authors of works and rights of performers, and in certain cases – holders of the rights to the record of performance and other broadcasting companies.

 

Article 1086. Rights of a Cable Broadcasting Organization

Rights of the cable broadcasting organization shall be established as applicable to the rights of a broadcasting organization established by this Code and the law.

 

Article 1087. Responsibility for Non-Implementation or Inappropriate Implementation of the Contract on the Use of Neighboring Rights and Illegal Use of a Work Without the Contract

A person who failed to implement or who inappropriately implemented the contract on use of neighboring rights or used the work illegally without the contract, shall bear the responsibility in accordance with general rules on responsibilities for failure to implement or inappropriate implementation of the contract, or accordingly to responsibility for the damage caused.

 

Chapter 56. Right to Industrial Property (Right to Invention, Utility Model, Industrial Design)

 

Article 1088. Legal Protection of Invention, Utility Model and Industrial Design

(1) The right to an invention and industrial design is protected under condition that a preliminary patent, patent and certificate for utility model is granted

(2) Requirements claimed to the invention, utility model, industrial design, under which the right to get preliminary patent, patent, certificate for utility model (hereinafter referred to as protected document), the procedure of their issuance by the patent agency shall be established by the law.

 

Article 1089. Right to Use an Invention, Utility Model, Industrial Design

(1) A patent owner shall have the exclusive right to use an invention, utility model, industrial design protected by a protected document, at his discretion; including the right to produce the good with application of protected decisions, apply technological processes protected by the patent in his own production, sell or offer for sale goods that contain protected decisions and import relevant goods.

Persons, other than the patent owner, shall not be entitled to use the invention, utility model, industrial design without his permission, except for the cases when such a use is not considered violation of the rights of the patent owner according to the present Code and other laws.

(2) Unauthorized manufacture, application, import, offer for sale, sale and any other introduction into the economic turnover or storage for that purpose of the good that contain patented invention, utility model or industrial design, as well as application of the method protected by a preliminary patent, patent for an invention or introduction to the economic turnover or storage for this purpose of the goods manufactured directly by the method protected by a preliminary patent, patent for an invention, device in the functioning or exploitation of which the method, pursuant to its purpose, is automatically realized shall be recognized as the violation of the exclusive right of the patent owner.

The good is considered to be manufacture by a patented method unless proved otherwise.

 

Article 1090. Disposal of the Right to a Patent

The right to obtain a patent, the rights coming from registration of the application, the right to own the patent and rights coming from the patent may be transferred entirely or partially to the other person.

 

Article 1091. The Right of Authorship

(1) The author of invention, utility model or industrial design shall have the right to authorship and the right to give a special name to an invention, utility model or industrial design.

The right of authorship and other personal rights to an invention, utility model or industrial design shall arise from the moment of appearance of the rights based on the patent.

(2) The author of the invention, utility model or industrial design may have special rights, privileges and advantages of social nature according to the law.

(3) A person indicated in the application as the author shall be deemed the author unless otherwise is proved. Only the facts and the circumstances existing before the right’s appearance may be used as proofs.

 

Article 1092. Co-Authors of an Invention, Utility Model or Industrial Design

Relations of co-authors of an invention, utility model or industrial design shall be established by the agreement between them.

Uncreative assistance to creation of an invention, utility model or industrial design (technical, organizational or mathematics assistance, assistance in registration of rights, etc.) does not entail co-authorship.

 

Article 1093. Work Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs

(1) The right to obtain protected document for an invention, utility model, industrial design created by an employee during execution of his service duties or a concrete task of the employer (work invention) shall belong to the employer provided that it is stipulated by the contract between them.

(2) The amount, conditions and procedure of payment of remuneration to the author for work invention, utility model or industrial design shall be established by the agreement between him and the employer. In case of failure to reach the agreement, the decision shall be made by court. Where it is impossible to measure contribution of the author and the employer to the creation of work invention, utility model or industrial design, the author shall have the right to the half of profit gained or to be gained by the employer.

 

Article 1094. Form of the Contract on Transfer of Right to a Protected Document

The contract on transfer of the right to protected document (concession of protected document) should be concluded in written form and be registered in the patent agency. Failure to comply with the written form or requirements of registration entails illegality of the contract.

 

Article 1095. Form of Permission (License) to Use an Invention, Utility Model, Industrial Design

The licensing agreement and sub-licensing contract shall be concluded in written form and be registered in the patent agency. Failure to comply with the written form or requirements on registration entails illegality of the contract.

 

Article 1096. Responsibility for Violation of a Protected Document

On the basis of the request of the patent owner, violation of the protected document must be stopped, and the violator must compensate the patent owner all his losses. Instead of the losses the patent owner has the right to charge from the violator the income gained by him from the violation.

 

Chapter 57. Rights to New Varieties of Plants  and New Animal Breeds

 

Article 1097. Protection of Right to New Varieties of Plants and New Animal Breeds

(1) Rights to the new varieties of plants and new animal breeds (breeding achievements) shall be protected provided that the patent is granted.

(2) Requirements under which the right to obtain a patent arises, the procedure of granting the patent for breeding achievements shall be established by the law.

(3) The rules of Articles 1090-1096 of this Code shall accordingly apply to the relations connected with the rights to breeding achievements and protection of these rights, unless otherwise is stipulated by the rules of the present chapter and the law.

 

Article 1098. Rights of the Author of a Breeding Achievement to Remuneration

The author of a breeding achievement who is not a patent owner shall have the right to receive the remuneration from the patent owner for the use of the breeding achievement within the term of patent validity.

The amount and conditions of payment of remuneration to the author of breeding achievement shall be established in the contract concluded between him and the patent owner.

 

Article 1099. Rights of the Patent Owner

The patent owner of a breeding achievement shall have the exclusive right to use this achievement within the limits established by the law.

 

Article 1100. Obligations of the Patent Owner

The patent holder of a breeding achievement shall be obliged to support appropriate variety of plant or animal breed within the validity term of the patent in a way to preserve the features indicated in the description of the variety of plant or breed of animal compiled at their registration.

 

Chapter 58. Protection of Undisclosed Information from Illegal Use

 

Article 1101.  Right to Protection of Undisclosed Information

A person who legally possesses technical, organizational or commercial information including production secrets (know-how) unknown to the third parties (undisclosed information) shall have the right for protection of this information from illegal exploitation unless the conditions established by Article 34 of the present Code are observed.

The right to protection of undisclosed information from illegal use arises irrespective of any formality carried out in respect of this information (its registration, receiving of certificate, etc.).

Rules on protection of undisclosed information shall not be applied in relation to the information which, in accordance with the law, cannot make up official or commercial secret (information on legal entities, rights to property and transactions with it which are subject to state registration, information subject to presentation as a state statistics reporting and others).

The right to protection of undisclosed information is valid until the conditions stipulated by Article 34 of this Code are valid.

 

Article 1102. Responsibility for Illegal Use of Undisclosed Information

(1) A person who has obtained or distributed undisclosed information or used it without legal grounds must recover losses caused in the result of illegal use to the person who legally possess the information.

Where a person illegally using undisclosed information received it from the person who has no right to distribute it, of which the acquirer of the information did not know and did not have to know (fair acquirer), the legal holder of undisclosed information shall have the right to demand him to compensate the losses caused by the use of undisclosed information after the fair acquirer became aware that the use is illegal.

(2) A person lawfully possessing undisclosed information shall be entitled to require form the person who illegally uses it, to stop this use immediately. However, the court may allow its further use under the conditions of payable exclusive license taking into consideration the means spent for its use by fair acquirer of undisclosed information.

(3) A person who independently and lawfully got the data which makes up the content of undisclosed information shall have the right to use this data irrespective of the rights of the holder of appropriate undisclosed information and does not report to him for such a use.

 

Article 1103. Transfer of the Right to Protection of  Undisclosed Information from Illegal Use

The person possessing undisclosed information may transfer all or a part of the data, which makes up the content of this information, to another person on the basis of licensing agreement.

A licensee is obliged to undertake proper measures to protect confidentiality of the information received on the basis of the contract, and has the same rights to its protection from illegal use by third persons as a licenser has. Given that the agreement does not stipulate otherwise, the liability to preserve confidentiality of the information shall be with the licensee even after termination of the licensing agreement, provided that the relevant data continue to be undisclosed information.

 

Chapter 59. Means of Individualization of Participants of the Civil Turnover, Goods, Works and Services

 

Paragraph 1. Trade Name

 

Article 1104.  Right to a Trade Name

(1) A legal entity whose trade name is registered in the established order shall have the exclusive right to use the trade name on goods, packaging, advertisements, sign boards, prospectus, bill boards, publications, official stationery and other documentation related to its activity, as well as in the course of demonstration of goods at fairs and exhibitions held in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

(2) The order of registration of a trade name of a legal entity shall be determined by the normative legal acts.

 

Article 1105. Use of the Trade Name of a Legal Entity in a Trademark

The trade name of a legal entity may be used in his trademark.

 

Article 1106. Effectiveness of the Right to a Trade Name

(1) The exclusive right to a trade name registered in the Kyrgyz Republic as the designation of a legal entity shall be effective in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

(2) The exclusive right to a trade name registered or commonly recognized in a foreign country shall be effective within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic in cases provided by the law.

(3) The effectiveness of the right to a trade name shall be terminated with the liquidation of a legal entity or with a change of it trade name as well as in the other cases provided by the law.

 

Article 1107. Alienation of the Right to a Trade Name

Alienation or transfer of the right to the trade name of a legal entity shall be allowed only in cases of reorganization of the legal entity or the alienation of an enterprise as a whole.

The holder of the right to a trade name may authorize other person to use his trade name (grant a license). However, the licensing agreement must spell out measures excluding delusion of a consumer.

 

Paragraph 2. Trademark (service mark)

 

Article 1108. Legal Protection of a Trademark

(1) Legal protection of a trademark (service mark) shall be granted on the basis of its registration.

(2) The right to the trademark shall be certified by a certificate.

 

Article 1109. Right to Use the Trademark

(1) The owner of the right to the trademark shall have the exclusive right to use and dispose the mark which belongs to him.

(2) Any introduction of a trademark into turnover in the order established by the law shall be considered the use of a trademark.

 

Article 1110. Consequences of Non-Exploitation of a Trademark

(1) When a trademark is not used without valid reason continuously for 3 years from the date of its registration, it may be canceled at the request of any interested person.

(2) The grant of a license to use the trademark shall be deemed its use.

 

Article 1111. Transfer of the Right to the Trademark

(1) The right to the trademark in relation of all types of goods, works and services or their parts, indicated in the certificate, may be transferred by the right holder to another person under the agreement.

Transfer of the right to the trademark shall not be allowed if it can be the reason for mislead in relation to goods or their producer.

Transfer of the right to the trademark, including its transfer on the basis of the contract or in the procedure of right-succession should be registered in the patent agency.

 

Article 1112. Form of the Agreement on Transfer of the Right to a Trademark

The agreement on transfer of the right to the trademark or on granting a license should be concluded in written form and registered in the patent agency.

Failure to do it in written form and to comply with the requirement of the registration entails invalidity of the agreement.

 

Article 1113. Responsibility for Violation of the Right to a Trademark

The person unlawfully using the trademark shall be obliged to stop the violation and compensate the owner of the trademark his losses.

The person unlawfully using the trademark shall be obliged to destroy designations of the trademark produced, to remove the illegally used trademark or the sign which is identical to it to the extent of confusion from the goods and their packages.

If it is impossible to fulfill the requirements of the second paragraph of this Article the relevant good shall be subject to destruction.

 

Paragraph 3. Appellations of Origin of Goods

 

Article 1114. Legal Protection of Appellations of Origin of Goods

(1) Legal protection of appellations of origin of good shall be granted on the basis of its registration.

(2) Appellation of origin (indication of origin) of a good means the name of a country, settlement, locality or another geographical place used for designation of a product the special characteristic features of which are exclusively or mainly determined by natural conditions peculiar to this geographic place or by other factors or combination of natural conditions and these factors.

Appellation of origin of goods may be a historical name of a geographic place.

(3) A designation providing or including the name of a geographical object, but which is generally used in the Kyrgyz Republic as a designation of a certain type of goods not related to the place of its production, shall not be considered to be the appellation of origin of goods and is not subject to registration for the purpose of legal protection in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph. However, this does not deprive a person, whose rights are violated by unfair use of such an appellation, of the opportunity of their protection through other means stipulated by the law.

(4) Registration of the appellation of origin of goods shall be made by the patent agency.

(5) A certificate on the right to use the appellation of origin of goods shall be issued on the basis of the registration.

(6) The procedure and the conditions of registration, issuance of certificates, recognition of invalidity and termination of the validity of the registration and the certificates shall be established by the law.

 

Article 1115. The Right to Use the Appellation of the Origin of Goods

(1) A person holding the right to use the appellation of origin of goods shall be entitled to place this name on a product, package, advertisement, prospects, accounts and use it otherwise due to the introduction of this good into civil turnover.

(2) Appellation of origin of a product may be registered by several persons both jointly and in separation from each other for designation of the product which complies with the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 2, Article 1114 of this Code. The right to use the appellation of origin of good shall belong to each of these persons.

(3) Alienation and other deals on assignment of the right to use the appellation of origin of goods, as well as permission to use them on the basis of a license shall be prohibited.

 

Article 1116. Scope of the Legal Protection of Appellation of Origin of Goods

(1) Legal protection of appellation of origin of goods located on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be granted in the Kyrgyz Republic.

(2) Legal protection of the appellation of origin of goods located in another state shall be granted in the Kyrgyz Republic provided that this appellation is registered in the country of origin of goods, as well as in the patent agency of the Kyrgyz Republic and in accordance with the Code.

 

Article 1117. Responsibility for Unlawful Use of Appellation of Place of Origin of Goods

(1) A person holding the right to use the appellation of origin of goods, as well as the organizations on protection of consumer’s rights may demand from the person, who illegally uses this appellation, to stop the use, to remove the illegally used appellation or designation which are identical to the extent of confusion, from the goods, packages, forms and similar documents, to destroy the produced imprint of the appellation or sign which are identical to the extent of confusion, and if its impossible-to withdraw and destroy the goods and/or packages.

(2) A person holding the right to use the appellation of origin of goods shall be entitled to require the compensation of the losses from the violator of this right.

 

Civil Code

SECTION V. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Chapter 53. General Provisions

Article 1037. Objects of Intellectual Property

Objects of intellectual property shall include:

1) results of intellectual activities:

– works of science, literature and art;

– performances, phonograms, programs of a broadcasting organization;

– programs of computer software and databases;

– integrated circuits topographies;

– inventions, utility models, industrial designs;

– breeding achievements;

– undisclosed information, including secrets of production (know-how);

2) means of individualization of participants of the civil turnover, goods, works and services;

– trade names;

– trademarks (service marks);

– appellations of places of origin of goods;

(3) other results of intellectual activity and means of individualization of participants of civil turnover, goods, works and services in the cases stipulated by this Code or other laws.

Article 1038..Legal Protection of Intellectual Property Objects

Legal protection of intellectual property objects arises due to the fact of their creation or as a result of rendering legal protection by an authorized state body in the cases and in the procedure stipulated by this Code and by other statutes.

Article 1039..Personal Economic and Non-Economic Rights to the Objects of Intellectual Property

(1) Authors of the results of intellectual activity shall have personal non-economic and economic rights in respect of these results.

Personal non-economic rights shall belong to the author irrespective of his economic rights and shall be retained by him in the case when his economic rights to the results of intellectual activity are transferred to another person.

(2) Owners of the right to the means of individualization of participants of civil turnover, goods, works or services (hereinafter referred to as “individualization means”) shall have economic rights in respect of these means.

(3) The right of authorship (the right to be recognized as the author of intellectual activity result) shall be a personal non-economic right and may belong only to the person who created the result of intellectual activity.

The right of authorship shall be inalienable and non-transferable.

(4) If the result is created by joint creative labor of two or more persons, they shall be considered co-authors.

Article 1040..Exclusive Rights to the Objects of Intellectual Property

1) The owner of economic rights to the result of intellectual activity or individualization means shall enjoy the exclusive right to make legal use of this object of intellectual property at his discretion in any form and way.

Use of intellectual property objects by other persons in respect of which the owner of the right enjoys the exclusive right, shall be permitted only upon the consent of the owner of the right.

(2) The owner of the exclusive right to the intellectual property object shall have the right to delegate the right to another person fully or partially, to authorize another person to use an intellectual property object and to enjoy the right to dispose it at his discretion provided it does not collide with the rules of this Code and other laws.

(3) Limitation of the exclusive rights, including the cases of doing it through rendering possibility to use intellectual property objects by other persons, recognition of these rights to be ineffective and their annulment (cancellation), shall be permitted in the cases, limits and procedure stipulated by this Code and other laws.

Limitation of the exclusive rights shall be permitted provided that such a limitation does not cause damage to the normal use of an intellectual property object and does not infringe the legitimate interests of the right owners.

Article 1041. Transfer of the Exclusive Rights to Another Person

(1) The economic rights belonging to an owner of the exclusive rights to an intellectual property object, if it is not stipulated otherwise by this Code or other laws, may be transferred by the owner of the right fully or partially to another person on the basis of a contract as well as transferred on inheritance or in the procedure of succession in the course of reorganization of a legal entity-right owner.

(2) The transfer of economic rights on a contractual basis or their transfer in the procedure of universal legal succession does not entail transfer or limitation of the right of authorship and other personal non-economic rights. The terms of the contract on transfer or limitation of such rights are void.

The exclusive rights that are being transferred according to the contract, shall be defined in it. The rights which are not specified in the contract as alienable shall be assumed to be not transferred because otherwise has not been proved.

The rules of licensing agreement shall be applied to a contract, which stipulates granting of the exclusive right within the term of its effectiveness, to another person for a limited period of time.

Article 1042. Licensing Agreement

(1) According to the licensing agreement the party which holds the exclusive right to the result of intellectual activity or means of individualization (licenser) shall grant to other party (licensee) permission for the use of a certain object of intellectual property.

The licensing agreement shall be assumed to be compensable.

(2) The licensing agreement may stipulate the following to be granted to a licensee:

– the right to use an object of intellectual property with the right of a licenser to use it and the right to grant the license to other persons (non exclusive license);

– the right to use an object of intellectual property with the right of a licenser to use it within the part not transferred to the licensee to other persons (exclusive license);

– other types of license allowed by the law.

Unless otherwise provided in the licensing agreement, the license shall be presumed to be (non exclusive).

(3) An agreement under which a licensee grants the right to use the object of intellectual property to another person is considered to be sub-license agreement. The licensee has the right to conclude a sub-license agreement in the cases stipulated by the licensing agreement.

Responsibility to the licenser for actions of a sub-licensee shall be carried by the licensee unless the licensing agreement stipulates otherwise.

Article 1043. The Agreement on Creation and Use the Results of Intellectual Activity

(1) According to the agreement on creation and use the results of intellectual activity the author may assume an obligation to create in the future a work, invention or other result of intellectual activity and grant to the client, who is not his employer, the exclusive rights to use this result.

Such an agreement must determine the nature of the result of intellectual activity which is subject to creation, as well as purposes or methods of its use.

(2) An agreement binding the author to grant to any person the exclusive rights to use any results of intellectual activity, which this author will create in the future shall be deemed void.

Conditions of the agreement on creation and use the results of intellectual property limiting the author to create the results of intellectual activity of certain type or in certain area in the future shall be deemed void.

Article 1044. The Exclusive Right and Property Right

The exclusive right to the result of intellectual property or means of individualization shall exist irrespective of property right to the material object in which such result or means of individualization are expressed.

Article 1045. .Effective Term of the Exclusive Right to the Objects of Intellectual Property

(1) The exclusive right to the objects of intellectual activity shall be effective for the term established by this Code or other laws.

(2) Personal non economic rights in respect of objects of intellectual property shall be effective without time-limits.

(3) In the cases stipulated by the law, validity of the exclusive right to the objects of intellectual property may be terminated in the result of failure to use it within certain period.

Article 1046. Methods of Protection of the Exclusive Rights to the Objects of Intellectual Property

(1) Protection of the exclusive rights to the objects of intellectual property is implemented by the methods stipulated in Article 11 of this Code. Protection of the exclusive rights may be implemented by the following methods:

– withdrawal of material objects with the help of which the exclusive rights are violated and material objects created in the result of such violation;

– obligatory publication on the violation committed, with the inclusion of the information as to who owns the violated right;

– other methods stipulated by the law.

(2) In the case of violation the agreement on creation and use the results of intellectual activity and means of individualization, general rules on the responsibility for violation of obligations shall be applied.

Chapter 54. Copyright

Article 1047. Works Protected by Copyright (Objects of Copyright)

(1) The copyright shall extend to the works of science, literature and art which are the result of creative activity, irrespective of the purpose, the merit and the manner of expression thereof.

(2) The work must be expressed in verbal, written or other objective form allowing the possibility of its perception.

The work in the written or otherwise expressed in a material carrier (manuscript, typewritten, musical score, recording with the help of technical means, including audio or video recording, fixation of the imprint in three dimensional or optical form, etc.) shall be deemed to have an objective form irrespective of its availability to the third persons.

Verbal and other work not expressed in a material carrier shall be deemed to have an objective form if it became available for perception by third persons (public recitation, public performance, etc.).

(3) The copyright shall extend both to promulgated and non-promulgated works.

(4) The copyright shall not extend to ideas, procedures, methods, concepts, principles, systems, proposed solutions, discoveries of objectively existing phenomena.

(5) No registration of work or observation of any other formalities shall be required for a copyright to emerge.

Article 1048Types of Objects of Copyright

The following shall be referred to the objects of copyright:

? literary works (literary-artistic, scientific, educational, publicistic and etc.);

? dramatic and scenario works;

? musical works with text and without it;

? music-dramatic works;

? choreographic works and pantomime;

? audiovisual works (cinema, television and video films, slide films and other cinema, television and video works), radio works;

? works of painting, sculpture, graphics, design and other works of fine arts;

? works of applied art and stage designs;

? works of architecture, urban planning, garden and park designs;

? photographic works and works obtained by way analogous to photography;

? geographical, geological and other maps, plans and sketches and other works related to geography, topography and other sciences;

? computer software programs of all types including applied programs and operational systems;

? other works complying with the requirements established in Article 1047 of this Code.

Article 1049. Parts of a Work, Derivative and Composite Works

(1) The objects of copyright shall be deemed parts of works, their designations and derivative works which meet the requirements established in Article 1047 of this Code.

The derivative works are works that present re-works of other works (translations, processing, annotations, abstracts, resumes, surveys, screen versions, arrangements and other similar works of science, literature and art);

Composite works shall include compilations (encyclopedias, anthologies) and other composite works that present the result of creative labor due to their set and arrangement.

(2) Derivative and composite works shall be protected by copyright irrespective of whether or not the works, on which they are based on or which they include, are the objects of copyright.

Article 1050. Works and Similar Results of Activity Which are not Objects of Copyright

The following shall not be deemed to be objects of copyright:

? official documents (laws, resolutions, decisions, etc.), as well as official translations thereof;

? official symbols and signs (flags, emblems, armorial bearings, monetary signs, etc.);

? works of folklore;

? information on daily news or information on current events which are of the common press nature;

? results gained with the help of technical means for production of a work of a certain type, but without creative activity of a man directly intended to create an individual work.

Article 1051. Rights to the Drafts of Official Documents, Symbols and Signs

(1) The right of authorship to a draft of official document, symbol or mark shall belong to an individual who developed the draft (the developer).

Developers of the drafts of official documents, symbols or marks shall have the right to publish such drafts if this is not prohibited by the body on whose order the draft was developed. Developers have the right to specify their names when publishing the draft.

(2) A draft may be used by a competent body to prepare an official document without developer’s consent if the draft was published by him and sent to a relevant body.

In the course of preparation the official documents, symbols and marks on the basis of a draft, amendments and addenda may be introduced into it at the discretion of the body who prepares the official document, symbol or mark.

After the draft is approved by a competent body, it may be used without indication the name of developer.

Article 1052. The Author of a Work Presumption of Authorship

(1) A citizen by whose creative labor the work is produced, shall be recognized as an author of the work.

A person, whose name is specified as an author’s name at the first publication of a work, shall be considered its author unless otherwise is proved.

(2) Where a published work is anonymous or pseudonymous (except for the cases when the author’s pseudonym leaves no doubt in his identity) the publisher, whose name is indicated on the work, unless proved otherwise, shall be considered the author’s representative and have the right to defend and enforce the author’s rights. This provision shall remain in force until the author of such a work discloses his identity and claims his authorship.

Article 1053. Co-Authorship

(1) The copyright to the work, created by joint creative labor of two or more citizens, shall belong to co-authors mutually, irrespective of whether such a work constitutes an indivisible whole or consists of the parts each of which also has an independent standing.

Part of a work shall be recognized as having its independent standing if it can be used independently from other parts of this work.

Each of the co-authors shall have the right to use part of the work created by him and having its independent standing at his discretion, unless otherwise is stipulated by the agreement between them.

(2) As a rule the relations between the co-authors are determined on the basis of the agreement. If there is not such an agreement, the copyright to the work shall be exercised by all the authors jointly and the remuneration shall be distributed among them equally.

If the work of co-authors forms an indivisible whole, none of the co-authors shall be entitled to prohibit the exploitation of the work without valid reasons.

Article 1054. The Authors of Derivative and Composite Works

(1) The authors of derivative and composite works shall be considered the persons who processed other works, translators, compilers of collections and other composite works that present the result of creative labor due to the set or arrangement.

The author of a derivative and composite work shall enjoy the copyright to such a work provided that he observes with the rights of the author of the work which was subject to processing, translation or incorporation into a composite work.

(2) The copyright of creators of derivative and composite works shall not prevent other persons from creating their own derivative works on the basis of the works used previously.

Article 1055. Rights of Persons Organizing Creation of Works

(1) Persons who organize creation of works (encyclopedia publishers, film makers, producers, etc.) shall not be recognized as authors of the appropriate works.

However, in the cases stipulated by this Code or other laws, such persons shall acquire the exclusive rights to use these works.

(2) Publishers of encyclopedia, encyclopedic dictionaries, periodical and continuos collections of scientific works, newspapers, magazines and other periodicals shall enjoy the exclusive right to use these publications. The publisher has the right to specify his name or require such specification at any use of such publication.

(3) The authors of the works included into such publications shall retain the exclusive right to use their own works irrespective of the publication in whole, unless otherwise is stipulated by the agreement to create the work.

(4) Conclusion of the agreement to create an audio-visual work, including a movie, does not entail transfer of the exclusive right from the author of the work to the producer to reproduction, distribution, public performance, cable communication for public information, broadcasting or any other public use of the product, subtitling or dubbing of the text of the movie, unless otherwise is stipulated by the agreement. The rights mentioned shall be in force for the term of validity of a copyright to an audio-visual work.

Producer of an audio-visual work shall have the right to specify its (his) name or demand such a specification at any use of this work.

At a public display (show) of an audio-visual work the author of a musical work (either with text or without it) shall retain the right to remuneration for public performance of his musical work, unless the agreement provides otherwise.

Destruction of the final version of the movie (original, negative) without consent of the author and other holders of economic rights to a movie shall be prohibited.

Article 1056. The Mark of Protection Copyright

(1) In order to inform about his rights, the owner of the exclusive copyright may use a copyright protection mark on each copy of the work. The mark consists of three elements:

– the Latin letter “C” in a circle;

– the name of the holder of the exclusive copyright;

– the year of the first publication of the work.

(2) A person specified on the copyright protection mark shall be deemed to be the right holder, unless proved otherwise.

Article 1057. Personal Non-Economic Rights of the Author

(1) The author of a work shall have the following personal non-economic rights:

? right of authorship;

? right to the name;

? right to promulgation including the right to revoke;

? right to work inviolability;

(2) The agreement of the author with somebody and application of the author on revocation of personal non-economic rights shall be void.

Article 1058. Right of Authorship

The right of authorship to created work that belongs to an author (co-authors) shall exclude acknowledgment of authorship of other persons to the same work.

Article 1059. Right to the Name

The author shall have the exclusive right to use or authorize the use of the work under his name, pseudonym or anonymously (right to the name).

Article 1060. Right to Inviolability of the Work

(1) The author shall have the exclusive right to introduce amendments and addenda to his work and to protect his work from the introduction of amendments and addenda by somebody without consent of the author (right to inviolability of the work).

In publishing, public performance or other use of a work any amendments may be introduced to the work itself as well as its name and the author’s name only with the consent of the author.

It shall be prohibited to include illustrations, prefaces, epilogues, comments and any other explanations in the work without the consent of the author.

(2) After the death of an author the inviolability of the work shall be provided by the person indicated in the will and in the absence of such indications-by the heirs of the author as well as the persons responsible for protection of copyright in accordance with the Law.

Article 1061. Right to Promulgation of a Work

(1) The author shall have the right to open an access to the work for an indefinite group of people (right to publication).

(2) The work shall be deemed promulgated when the access to the work for an indefinite group of people is opened for the first time by the author or under his consent by means of publication, public performance, public demonstration of the work or its issuance otherwise.

The author shall have the right to refuse from the previously made decision on promulgation of the work (right to revoke) under condition that the losses, including lost profits caused to the persons entitled to use the work, are covered. If the work was promulgated the author must publicly inform about its revocation. He shall have the right to withdraw from circulation the earlier produced copies of the work at his own expense. These provisions shall also apply to the work products unless the agreement with the author stipulates otherwise.

Article 1062. Author’s Right to Use a Work

(1) An author shall have the exclusive rights to use the work in any form and way.

(2) The use of a work shall be considered its reproduction and distribution, as well as its sale in other ways, that, in particular shall include:

? public demonstration (exhibition, display) of the work;

? renting of a copy which is the material carrier of the work;

? public performance of the work;

? transmission of the work to air (broadcast by radio or TV) including transmission via cable or satellite;

? technical record of the work;

? reproduction of technical record of the work including by radio or television;

? translation or re-doing of the work for its further use;

? practical implementation of urban planning, architectural and design project.

Reproduction shall be considered repeated creation of an objective form of the work at least the one it had in the original form (publication of the work, copying of audio or video records etc.).

The distribution of the work shall include the sale, exchange, rent and other operations with copies of the work.

(3) When the copies of the work are alienated legally, their further distribution shall be allowed without consent of the author and without payment of author’s remuneration, except for the cases stipulated by the Law.

(4) The work shall be deemed used irrespective of whether it is used in order to get income (profit) or it is not the purpose of the use.

(5) The practical application of principles composing the content of a work (invention, technical, economic, organizational and other similar solutions) shall not be deemed as the use of a work in terms of copyright.

Article 1063. Disposal of the Right to Use a Work

(1) The author or other owner of the right may transfer all the rights to use the work to another person in accordance with the agreement, including the one concluded at public auctions (alienation of the right to use).

(2) The right to use the work shall be transferred in accordance with the procedure of universal legal succession.

(3) The right-holder may grant the permission (license) to another person to use the work within certain limits. The permission is required to use the work both in the original and revised version, in particular-in the form of translation, arrangement, etc.

(4) Every method of use of the work requires special permission of the right holder.

Article 1064. Limits of Copyrights

The exclusive rights of the author and other persons to use the work shall be allowed only in the cases stipulated by Articles 1065-1068 of this Code or other Laws.

The indicated restrictions shall be applied under condition that it neither damages the normal use of the work nor unreasonably infringes the legal interests of the author.

Article 1065. Reproduction of Alien Work for Personal Purposes

(1) The alien work which was publicly released shall be allowed to use for personal purposes without consent of the author and without payment of author’s remuneration provided that the normal use of the work is not damaged and the legal interests of the author are not infringed.

(2) The rules of the first paragraph of this Article shall not apply in relation to:

? the use of architectural works in the form of buildings and similar structures;

? the use of data bases or their significant parts;

? the use of computer software, except for the cases stipulated by the Law;

? reproduction of books (as a whole) and musical scores;

(3) In the first paragraph of this Article the Law shall have an exception to stipulate that if an audiovisual work or work fixed on a phonogram is used for personal purposes, the author, performer and producer of the record shall be entitled to the commensurate remuneration.

The remuneration for reproduction shall be paid in the form of deductions (interests) by the producers and importers of equipment (audio electronics, video-tape recorders, etc.) and material carriers (audio and (or) video tapes, cassettes, laser disks, compact disks, etc.) which are used for such reproduction.

Article 1066. Free Public Performance of Works

Public performance of the legally published musical compositions during the official religious and funeral ceremonies shall be allowed without consent of the author and without payment of author’s remuneration in the volume justified by the nature of such ceremonies.

Article 1067. Free Reproduction of Works for Judicial Purposes

The reproduction of works for the purposes of judicial and administrative work in the volume justified by the purpose of use shall be allowed without consent of the author and without the payment of author’s remuneration.

Article 1068. Right to the Work Product

(1) Personal non-economic rights to the work created in the course of execution of service assignment (work product) shall belong to the author of the work.

(2) The right to use the work product in the way set by the purpose of the assignment and limits preconditioned by it, shall belong to the person on whose assignment the work has been created and with whom the author has labor relations (employer) unless the agreement between him and the author stipulates otherwise. The employer shall be entitled to transfer this right of use to another person.

The agreement of the employer with the author may stipulate payment of remuneration to the author for the use of the work product and contain other conditions of its use.

(3) After ten years from the date of submission of the work and with the consent of the employer-earlier, the author shall obtain the full right to use the work and receive author’s remuneration, irrespective of the agreement concluded with the employer.

(4) The author’s right to use a work product in a way not conditioned by the purpose of the assignment, shall not be limited.

Article 1069. Validity of Copyright in the Territory of the Kyrgyz Republic

(1) The copyright to the work promulgated in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic or non-promulgated but the original copy of which in any form is located in the territory of the Republic, shall be valid in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. In this case the copyright shall belong to the author and his heirs as well as other legal successors of the author irrespective of their citizenship.

(2) The copyright shall also belong to the citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic whose works are promulgated or exist in some objective form in the territory of a foreign state, as well as to their heirs and other legal successors.

(3) When the author is protected legally in accordance with the international agreements the fact of promulgation in the territory of a foreign state shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the appropriate international agreement.

In order to protect the work in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic the person who is recognized as the author of the work shall be determined in accordance with the Laws of the state where the work commenced being protected for the first time.

Article 1070. Commencement of Copyright Effectiveness

(1) The copyright to the work shall be in force from the date of shaping it into an objective form simple for perception by the third parties irrespective of promulgation. The copyright to the oral work shall be in force from the moment of its communication to the third persons.

(2) Where the work does not come under Article 1069 of this Code the copyright to such a work shall be protected from the moment of promulgation of the work provided that it carried out in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Article 1071. Term of Copyright Validity

(1) The copyright shall be valid during the whole life of the author and fifty years after his death, beginning from the first of January of the year following the year of the author’s death.

(2) The copyright to the work created in co-authorship shall be valid during the whole life of the co-authors and fifty years after the death of the last of co-author who outlived other co-authors.

(3) The copyright to the work issued for the first time under pseudonym or anonymously shall be valid during fifty years, beginning from January 1 of the year following the year when the work was issued.

Where the pseudonym or an anonymous author is disclosed, the terms indicated in the first paragraph of this Article shall be applied.

(4) During the period indicated in the first paragraph of this Article the copyright shall belong to the author’s heirs and be inherited. During the same terms the copyright shall belong to the legal successors who obtained this right on the basis of the contract with the author, his heirs and future legal successors.

(5) The copyright to the work issued for the first time during fifty years after the author’s death shall be valid during fifty years after its issue, beginning from January 1 of the year following the year when the work was issued.

(6) The authorship, name of the author and inviolability of the work shall be protected without fixed limits.

Article 1072 Transfer of a Work to the Public Domain

(1) Upon expiration of copyright validity term for the work, it shall become public domain.

The works which have never been protected in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be deemed to be public domain.

(2) The works which belong to public domain may be used freely by any person without payment of the author’s remuneration. The right of authorship, right to the name and the right to inviolability of the work shall be observed.

Article 1073. Author’s Contract

(1) The author or his heirs may transfer the right to use his work to another person by the way of conclusion of the author’s contract. The author’s contract shall be for pay.

(2) The author’s contract may be concluded for a prepared work or for the work which will be created by the author under his obligation (order contract). The author’s contract shall also be the contract permitting the use of the work within certain limits, which is concluded by the author or his heirs (author’s licensing contract).

Article 1074. Conditions of the Author’s Contract

(1) The author’s contract must stipulate:

– methods of use of the work (specific rights transferred in accordance with this contract);

– term and territory for which the right is transferred;

– the amount of remuneration and (or) procedure for determination the amount of remuneration for every method of use of the work, procedure and terms of payment.

If the author’s contract does not stipulate conditions on the term for which the right to use the work is transferred, the contract may be canceled by the author in five years from the date of its conclusion provided that the user is informed about it in writing, six month before the cancellation of the contract.

If the author’s contract does not stipulate the conditions about the territory on which the right to use the work is valid, the validity of the right transferred in accordance with the contract shall be limited by the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

(2) The subject of the author’s contract can not include the rights to use the work which are unknown at the moment of conclusion the contract.

(3) The amount of remuneration for the use of the work shall be specified in the author’s contract under the agreement of the parties.

Where the author’s contract on publication or other reproduction of performance of the work sets the fixed amount of the remuneration, the contract shall stipulate the maximum number of copies of the work.

The waiver of the author and his heirs from the right to remuneration is void.

(4) The rights transferred under the author’s contract can be transferred by any party of the contract fully or partially to other persons only if it is directly stipulated by such a contract.

Article 1075. Form of the Author’s Contract

The author’s contract shall be concluded in the written form except the cases stipulated by the Law.

Article 1076. Responsibility Under the Author’s Contract

The party which did not fulfill or improperly fulfilled the liabilities under the author’s contract must cover the losses caused to the other party including lost profit.

Article 1077. Term of Validity of the Author’s Licensing Contract

(1) The author’s licensing contract shall be valid during the period stipulated by it, but not longer than the term of the copyright validity.

(2) Irrespective of weather the term of validity is included in the author’s licensing contract or not, the author of the work and his heirs shall be entitled to cancel the contract unilaterally in ten years after the date of the conclusion of the contract, informing his contract agent about it in writing, six months prior to the cancellation of the contract. The author and his heirs shall have this right every ten years.

(3) The contract can stipulate the terms of use of the work, the violation of which results in the right of the legal successor to cancel the contract.

Article 1078. Liability for Illegal Use of a Work Without Contract

In the event the work is used without a contract concluded with the owner of the right, the violator is obliged to indemnify the losses caused to the right owner, including lost profit. The right owner shall be entitled to disgorge from the violator the revenues obtained in the result of the violation instead of the losses.

The use of the work in a way which is not stipulated by the author’s contract or after expiration of validity of such a contract shall be considered the use of the work without a contract.

Article 1079. Legal Regulation of Authors’ Relations

The authors’ relations shall be regulated by this Code and other legislation.

Chapter 55. Neighboring Rights

Article 1080. Object of Neighboring Rights

Neighboring rights shall extend to staging, performance, phonograms, programs of broadcasting and cable organizations.

Article 1081. Subjects of Neighboring Rights

(1) The right to performance shall belong to actors-performers, director-stagers, conductors. The right to use such a performance may be transferred to heirs and other legal successors.

(2) The right to record a performance shall belong to the person who created such a record or to his/her legal successors.

(3) The right to transmission shall belong to the broadcasting or cable organization that created a program or to its legal successors.

Article 1082. Mark of Protection of Neighboring Rights

The producer of a phonogram and the performer may, in order to inform about his rights, use the mark of protection neighboring rights which is placed on each copy of a phonogram and (or) on each sleeve and consists of three elements:

? a circled Latin letter “P”;

? name of the owner of the exclusive neighboring rights;

? year of the first publication of the recording.

Article 1083. Rights of a Performer

(1) The performer has the right for:

? indication of his/her name during performance, on copies of the record of performance or staging, in the course of broadcast or reproduction of the performance or staging;

? protection of the performance or staging against distortion;

? provision or permission to use the performance or staging;

(2) The right to use the performance or staging includes the right to allow:

? broadcast or cable transmission of the performance or staging;

? record of the performance or staging with the help of technical devices;

? broadcast and public reproduction of the produced record of a performance or staging;

? copying and distribution of the copies of a record of a performance and staging.

(3) Performers shall exercise their rights with the observation of the rights of authors of the works performed.

(4) Restrictions of the right to use or stage the performance shall be established by the law.

(5) The provisions of Article 1068 shall accordingly apply to the right to performance made in the course of execution of the work related assignment (work performance or staging).

Article 1084. Rights of a Producer of a Phonogram

(1) Producer of a phonogram and his legal successor shall have the exclusive right to this phonogram.

Exploitation of such a phonogram by other persons is allowed only upon the permission of the producer of a phonogram or his legal successor.

(2) Producer of a phonogram or his legal successor shall have the right to perform or to authorize the following:

? public reproduction of the phonogram;

? adaptation or any other transformation of the phonogram;

? distribution of copies of the phonogram (sale, rental etc.), including their transfer abroad;

? import copies of the phonogram.

(3) If the property right to the copy of the record of performance belongs not to its creator, the exclusive right to use the record, including its commercial rental belongs to the person who created the record.

(4) Restrictions of the rights of the producer of performance shall be established by the law.

(5) Holders of the right to the phonogram shall exercise their rights taking into account the rights of authors of the work and rights of the performers.

Article 1085. Rights of a Cable Broadcasting Organization

(1) Broadcasting company shall have the exclusive right to exploit its program in any form and give permission to third persons to use such a program.

Exploitation of the program by the third persons shall be done on the basis of a contract. The right-holder shall be entitled to remuneration for each type of use.

(2) Restrictions of the rights of a broadcasting company shall be established by the law.

(3) The broadcasting company shall implement its rights taking into account the rights of authors of works and rights of performers, and in certain cases – holders of the rights to the record of performance and other broadcasting companies.

Article 1086. Rights of a Cable Broadcasting Organization

Rights of the cable broadcasting organization shall be established as applicable to the rights of a broadcasting organization established by this Code and the law.

Article 1087. Responsibility for Non-Implementation or Inappropriate Implementation of the Contract on the Use of Neighboring Rights and Illegal Use of a Work Without the Contract

A person who failed to implement or who inappropriately implemented the contract on use of neighboring rights or used the work illegally without the contract, shall bear the responsibility in accordance with general rules on responsibilities for failure to implement or inappropriate implementation of the contract, or accordingly to responsibility for the damage caused.

Chapter 56. Right to Industrial Property (Right to Invention, Utility Model, Industrial Design)

Article 1088. Legal Protection of Invention, Utility Model and Industrial Design

(1) The right to an invention and industrial design is protected under condition that a preliminary patent, patent and certificate for utility model is granted

(2) Requirements claimed to the invention, utility model, industrial design, under which the right to get preliminary patent, patent, certificate for utility model (hereinafter referred to as protected document), the procedure of their issuance by the patent agency shall be established by the law.

Article 1089. Right to Use an Invention, Utility Model, Industrial Design

(1) A patent owner shall have the exclusive right to use an invention, utility model, industrial design protected by a protected document, at his discretion; including the right to produce the good with application of protected decisions, apply technological processes protected by the patent in his own production, sell or offer for sale goods that contain protected decisions and import relevant goods.

Persons, other than the patent owner, shall not be entitled to use the invention, utility model, industrial design without his permission, except for the cases when such a use is not considered violation of the rights of the patent owner according to the present Code and other laws.

(2) Unauthorized manufacture, application, import, offer for sale, sale and any other introduction into the economic turnover or storage for that purpose of the good that contain patented invention, utility model or industrial design, as well as application of the method protected by a preliminary patent, patent for an invention or introduction to the economic turnover or storage for this purpose of the goods manufactured directly by the method protected by a preliminary patent, patent for an invention, device in the functioning or exploitation of which the method, pursuant to its purpose, is automatically realized shall be recognized as the violation of the exclusive right of the patent owner.

The good is considered to be manufacture by a patented method unless proved otherwise.

Article 1090. Disposal of the Right to a Patent

The right to obtain a patent, the rights coming from registration of the application, the right to own the patent and rights coming from the patent may be transferred entirely or partially to the other person.

Article 1091. The Right of Authorship

(1) The author of invention, utility model or industrial design shall have the right to authorship and the right to give a special name to an invention, utility model or industrial design.

The right of authorship and other personal rights to an invention, utility model or industrial design shall arise from the moment of appearance of the rights based on the patent.

(2) The author of the invention, utility model or industrial design may have special rights, privileges and advantages of social nature according to the law.

(3) A person indicated in the application as the author shall be deemed the author unless otherwise is proved. Only the facts and the circumstances existing before the right’s appearance may be used as proofs.

Article 1092. Co-Authors of an Invention, Utility Model or Industrial Design

Relations of co-authors of an invention, utility model or industrial design shall be established by the agreement between them.

Uncreative assistance to creation of an invention, utility model or industrial design (technical, organizational or mathematics assistance, assistance in registration of rights, etc.) does not entail co-authorship.

Article 1093. Work Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs

(1) The right to obtain protected document for an invention, utility model, industrial design created by an employee during execution of his service duties or a concrete task of the employer (work invention) shall belong to the employer provided that it is stipulated by the contract between them.

(2) The amount, conditions and procedure of payment of remuneration to the author for work invention, utility model or industrial design shall be established by the agreement between him and the employer. In case of failure to reach the agreement, the decision shall be made by court. Where it is impossible to measure contribution of the author and the employer to the creation of work invention, utility model or industrial design, the author shall have the right to the half of profit gained or to be gained by the employer.

Article 1094. Form of the Contract on Transfer of Right to a Protected Document

The contract on transfer of the right to protected document (concession of protected document) should be concluded in written form and be registered in the patent agency. Failure to comply with the written form or requirements of registration entails illegality of the contract.

Article 1095. Form of Permission (License) to Use an Invention, Utility Model, Industrial Design

The licensing agreement and sub-licensing contract shall be concluded in written form and be registered in the patent agency. Failure to comply with the written form or requirements on registration entails illegality of the contract.

Article 1096. Responsibility for Violation of a Protected Document

On the basis of the request of the patent owner, violation of the protected document must be stopped, and the violator must compensate the patent owner all his losses. Instead of the losses the patent owner has the right to charge from the violator the income gained by him from the violation.

Chapter 57. Rights to New Varieties of Plants and New Animal Breeds

Article 1097. Protection of Right to New Varieties of Plants and New Animal Breeds

(1) Rights to the new varieties of plants and new animal breeds (breeding achievements) shall be protected provided that the patent is granted.

(2) Requirements under which the right to obtain a patent arises, the procedure of granting the patent for breeding achievements shall be established by the law.

(3) The rules of Articles 1090-1096 of this Code shall accordingly apply to the relations connected with the rights to breeding achievements and protection of these rights, unless otherwise is stipulated by the rules of the present chapter and the law.

Article 1098. Rights of the Author of a Breeding Achievement to Remuneration

The author of a breeding achievement who is not a patent owner shall have the right to receive the remuneration from the patent owner for the use of the breeding achievement within the term of patent validity.

The amount and conditions of payment of remuneration to the author of breeding achievement shall be established in the contract concluded between him and the patent owner.

Article 1099. Rights of the Patent Owner

The patent owner of a breeding achievement shall have the exclusive right to use this achievement within the limits established by the law.

Article 1100. Obligations of the Patent Owner

1100. The patent holder of a breeding achievement shall be obliged to support appropriate variety of plant or animal breed within the validity term of the patent in a way to preserve the features indicated in the description of the variety of plant or breed of animal compiled at their registration.

Chapter 58. Protection of Undisclosed Information from Illegal Use

Article 1101. Right to Protection of Undisclosed Information

A person who legally possesses technical, organizational or commercial information including production secrets (know-how) unknown to the third parties (undisclosed information) shall have the right for protection of this information from illegal exploitation unless the conditions established by Article 34 of the present Code are observed.

The right to protection of undisclosed information from illegal use arises irrespective of any formality carried out in respect of this information (its registration, receiving of certificate, etc.).

Rules on protection of undisclosed information shall not be applied in relation to the information which, in accordance with the law, cannot make up official or commercial secret (information on legal entities, rights to property and transactions with it which are subject to state registration, information subject to presentation as a state statistics reporting and others).

The right to protection of undisclosed information is valid until the conditions stipulated by Article 34 of this Code are valid.

Article 1102. Responsibility for Illegal Use of Undisclosed Information

(1) A person who has obtained or distributed undisclosed information or used it without legal grounds must recover losses caused in the result of illegal use to the person who legally possess the information.

Where a person illegally using undisclosed information received it from the person who has no right to distribute it, of which the acquirer of the information did not know and did not have to know (fair acquirer), the legal holder of undisclosed information shall have the right to demand him to compensate the losses caused by the use of undisclosed information after the fair acquirer became aware that the use is illegal.

(2) A person lawfully possessing undisclosed information shall be entitled to require form the person who illegally uses it, to stop this use immediately. However, the court may allow its further use under the conditions of payable exclusive license taking into consideration the means spent for its use by fair acquirer of undisclosed information.

(3) A person who independently and lawfully got the data which makes up the content of undisclosed information shall have the right to use this data irrespective of the rights of the holder of appropriate undisclosed information and does not report to him for such a use.

Article 1103. Transfer of the Right to Protection of Undisclosed Information from Illegal Use

The person possessing undisclosed information may transfer all or a part of the data, which makes up the content of this information, to another person on the basis of licensing agreement.

A licensee is obliged to undertake proper measures to protect confidentiality of the information received on the basis of the contract, and has the same rights to its protection from illegal use by third persons as a licenser has. Given that the agreement does not stipulate otherwise, the liability to preserve confidentiality of the information shall be with the licensee even after termination of the licensing agreement, provided that the relevant data continue to be undisclosed information.

Chapter 59. Means of Individualization of Participants of the Civil Turnover, Goods, Works and Services

Paragraph 1. Trade Name

Article 1104. Right to a Trade Name

(1) A legal entity whose trade name is registered in the established order shall have the exclusive right to use the trade name on goods, packaging, advertisements, sign boards, prospectus, bill boards, publications, official stationery and other documentation related to its activity, as well as in the course of demonstration of goods at fairs and exhibitions held in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

(2) The order of registration of a trade name of a legal entity shall be determined by the normative legal acts.

Article 1105. Use of the Trade Name of a Legal Entity in a Trademark

The trade name of a legal entity may be used in his trademark.

Article 1106. Effectiveness of the Right to a Trade Name

(1) The exclusive right to a trade name registered in the Kyrgyz Republic as the designation of a legal entity shall be effective in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

(2) The exclusive right to a trade name registered or commonly recognized in a foreign country shall be effective within the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic in cases provided by the law.

(3) The effectiveness of the right to a trade name shall be terminated with the liquidation of a legal entity or with a change of it trade name as well as in the other cases provided by the law.

Article 1107. Alienation of the Right to a Trade Name

Alienation or transfer of the right to the trade name of a legal entity shall be allowed only in cases of reorganization of the legal entity or the alienation of an enterprise as a whole.

The holder of the right to a trade name may authorize other person to use his trade name (grant a license). However, the licensing agreement must spell out measures excluding delusion of a consumer.

Paragraph 2. Trademark (service mark)

Article 1108. Legal Protection of a Trademark

(1) Legal protection of a trademark (service mark) shall be granted on the basis of its registration.

(2) The right to the trademark shall be certified by a certificate.

Article 1109. Right to Use the Trademark

(1) The owner of the right to the trademark shall have the exclusive right to use and dispose the mark which belongs to him.

(2) Any introduction of a trademark into turnover in the order established by the law shall be considered the use of a trademark.

Article 1110. Consequences of Non-Exploitation of a Trademark

(1) When a trademark is not used without valid reason continuously for 3 years from the date of its registration, it may be canceled at the request of any interested person.

(2) The grant of a license to use the trademark shall be deemed its use.

Article 1111. Transfer of the Right to the Trademark

(1) The right to the trademark in relation of all types of goods, works and services or their parts, indicated in the certificate, may be transferred by the right holder to another person under the agreement.

Transfer of the right to the trademark shall not be allowed if it can be the reason for mislead in relation to goods or their producer.

Transfer of the right to the trademark, including its transfer on the basis of the contract or in the procedure of right-succession should be registered in the patent agency.

Article 1112. Form of the Agreement on Transfer of the Right to a Trademark

The agreement on transfer of the right to the trademark or on granting a license should be concluded in written form and registered in the patent agency.

Failure to do it in written form and to comply with the requirement of the registration entails invalidity of the agreement.

Article 1113. Responsibility for Violation of the Right to a Trademark

The person unlawfully using the trademark shall be obliged to stop the violation and compensate the owner of the trademark his losses.

The person unlawfully using the trademark shall be obliged to destroy designations of the trademark produced, to remove the illegally used trademark or the sign which is identical to it to the extent of confusion from the goods and their packages.

If it is impossible to fulfill the requirements of the second paragraph of this Article the relevant good shall be subject to destruction.

Paragraph 3. Appellations of Origin of Goods

Article 1114. Legal Protection of Appellations of Origin of Goods

(1) Legal protection of appellations of origin of good shall be granted on the basis of its registration.

(2) Appellation of origin (indication of origin) of a good means the name of a country, settlement, locality or another geographical place used for designation of a product the special characteristic features of which are exclusively or mainly determined by natural conditions peculiar to this geographic place or by other factors or combination of natural conditions and these factors.

Appellation of origin of goods may be a historical name of a geographic place.

(3) A designation providing or including the name of a geographical object, but which is generally used in the Kyrgyz Republic as a designation of a certain type of goods not related to the place of its production, shall not be considered to be the appellation of origin of goods and is not subject to registration for the purpose of legal protection in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph. However, this does not deprive a person, whose rights are violated by unfair use of such an appellation, of the opportunity of their protection through other means stipulated by the law.

(4) Registration of the appellation of origin of goods shall be made by the patent agency.

(5) A certificate on the right to use the appellation of origin of goods shall be issued on the basis of the registration.

(6) The procedure and the conditions of registration, issuance of certificates, recognition of invalidity and termination of the validity of the registration and the certificates shall be established by the law.

Article 1115. The Right to Use the Appellation of the Origin of Goods

(1) A person holding the right to use the appellation of origin of goods shall be entitled to place this name on a product, package, advertisement, prospects, accounts and use it otherwise due to the introduction of this good into civil turnover.

(2) Appellation of origin of a product may be registered by several persons both jointly and in separation from each other for designation of the product which complies with the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 2, Article 1114 of this Code. The right to use the appellation of origin of good shall belong to each of these persons.

(3) Alienation and other deals on assignment of the right to use the appellation of origin of goods, as well as permission to use them on the basis of a license shall be prohibited.

Article 1116. Scope of the Legal Protection of Appellation of Origin of Goods

(1) Legal protection of appellation of origin of goods located on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be granted in the Kyrgyz Republic.

(2) Legal protection of the appellation of origin of goods located in another state shall be granted in the Kyrgyz Republic provided that this appellation is registered in the country of origin of goods, as well as in the patent agency of the Kyrgyz Republic and in accordance with the Code.

Article 1117. Responsibility for Unlawful Use of Appellation of Place of Origin of Goods

(1) A person holding the right to use the appellation of origin of goods, as well as the organizations on protection of consumer’s rights may demand from the person, who illegally uses this appellation, to stop the use, to remove the illegally used appellation or designation which are identical to the extent of confusion, from the goods, packages, forms and similar documents, to destroy the produced imprint of the appellation or sign which are identical to the extent of confusion, and if its impossible-to withdraw and destroy the goods and/or packages.

(2) A person holding the right to use the appellation of origin of goods shall be entitled to require the compensation of the losses from the violator of this right.

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